Sony Pictures
I’ve always admired the Men in Black films. The first film starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, which was directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, is one of the best sci-fi comedies I have seen. Smith and Jones had undeniable chemistry, which they also recreated in the two sequels. It only seems fair that there would be other Men in Black films surrounding different characters. The Men in Black is an organization that spans the world, so eventually a new film with new characters would be released. The fourth film in the franchise, the first to not be directed by Sonnenfeld or starring Smith and Jones, explores the Men in Black organization in London.
Men in Black: International stars Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson as Agent H and Agent M. Molly (Thompson) witnessed an alien encounter when she was young. Her parent’s minds were wiped of the alien encounter, but the Men in Black forgot to wipe Molly’s mind, which lead to her trying to track down the Men in Black for over 20 years in hopes that she could become an agent. Eventually Molly tracks down the Men in Black headquarters and convinces Agent O (Emma Thompson) to give her a position. Agent O sends Molly, now referred to as Agent M, to London for her first mission.
All three of the original Men in Black films are exciting and upbeat. That is mostly due to the chemistry between Smith and Jones. The newest film just feels empty. It isn’t a terrible film, but there isn’t anything to love about the movie either. I couldn’t tell you one scene that I really enjoyed or found memorable. I saw this film in IMAX on Thursday night and sat there, chuckled a few times, and then left.
This movie had all the right stuff to make it a good film. A director known for directing fast paced action movies like The Italian Job and The Fate of the Furious as well as a talented cast. Tessa Thompson and Chris Hemsworth have the benefit of appearing together on film twice now. They starred together in Thor: Ragnarok and Avengers: Endgame, so with this being the third time they’ve worked together, their chemistry shines. It still isn’t as memorable as what Smith and Jones created in the first Men in Black film way back in 1997. Both Thompson and Hemsworth were serviceable in their roles, but the movie didn’t give Thompson much to do, who spent her whole life training to become an agent. The film set up her storyline well, but never showed us why she was worthy of being an agent.
The film tried to introduce a wide variety of creatures, which I will admit were visually pleasing to look at, but they never were able to add to the plot. Many of the aliens were supposed to have an integral part to the film, but the writing for them was weak which made them feel underdeveloped. Then there were aliens who had nothing to do with the overall plot but were given a large amount of screen time, which felt odd to me.
Aside from Agent H and Agent M trying to stop aliens who can take the form of any human on Earth and have decent break-dancing skills, the Men in Black learn that there is a mole in their headquarters. With how certain scenes were set up, it became obvious who was the mole in the headquarters. The movie didn’t even try to surprise the audience, which was disappointing. Since the movie was lackluster in many aspects, I was hoping that the film would at least have a few different surprises, but that never happened.
Kumail Nanjiani was easily the best part of the film. He voiced Pawny, a small alien who lost his queen and now wanted to serve Agent M. Nanjiani is a hilarious actor and he gave this film a little energy whenever his character was on screen. Liam Neeson was also in the movie, but he felt just like a typical Liam Neeson character. Nothing new.
I wish there was more going on in this film to satisfy me. Men in Black: International was a hollow film that expanded the Men in Black organization into other parts of the world. While the acting was decent and sometimes it was funny, there wasn’t much to praise about the reboot that could have been fun.
Men in Black: International has a run time of 1 hour 55 minutes and is rated PG-13 for sci-fi action, some language and suggestive material.
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