'Barry Sonnenfeld Declares ‘Men in Black III’ a Return to Form'

FILM SCHOOL REJECTS

By Jack Giroux on April 30, 2012

In just a few weeks we will be getting our first Men in Black film in nearly ten years, and hopefully the Men in Black sequel we deserve. Director Barry Sonnenfeld's first installment was a real head-turner, a rare type of blockbuster that could be touted as being something like a modern day Ghostbusters, though it was its own original breed of film. The 2002 sequel, however, was not that, forgetting nearly everything that made the first film unique. Thankfully, Sonnenfeld is well aware of this.

The Get Shorty and Addams Family director is hoping to bring the series back down to where it all began: character and plot-driven action, not another aimless gag after gag sequel. From his different 3D approach to having what he calls a real nasty villain again, Barry Sonnenfeld declares Men in Black III a return to where the series started off so well.

(excerpted)

I thought the second film was missing a Vincent D'Onofrio, a villain who had real menace to him and raised the stakes. Would you say Jemaine Clement brings that back? 

Well, yes, thank you for asking me that. For one, on the second movie, I think we forgot to pay attention to having a really strong villain. D'Onofrio was fantastic, because he was both menacing and also very funny because he was so frustrated by earth. In this movie, Jemaine is an incredibly good villain. For one, Rick Baker's makeup, which took Jemaine four and a half hours every morning to put on, really turned Jemaine from the nicest human being you'll ever meet into someone who both looks and acts really scary. He's a really mean and great-looking villain. We learned from the second one and are back to have a really strong villain. In fact, Danny Elfman, who did the score on all three movies, is huge Jemaine Clement fan and loves every moment of Flight of the Concords. The first time I showed him Men in Black III, he said, "That villain is fantastic. Who is he?" I said his name was Jemaine Clement, and he said "no way." Danny Elfman not recognizing one of his musical idols was very satisfying.

READ ENTIRE INTERVIEW HERE