Men in Black: International – 3 out of 5
The first Men in Black film is a whole lot of fun. The second one is…okay. And the third one was a lot more entertaining than I thought it was going to be. When it was announced they were going to start up the franchise again, I was all for it. When I heard it would have both Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson I was all-in! For the most part, it’s an entertaining ride and decent enough addition to the franchise but it kinda falls more towards the second film where it’s just okay and doesn’t quite reach the heights of the first film.
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| Don't tell Neeson that aliens sometimes abduct--or take--human beings. |
As a child, Molly Wright had an encountered with an alien. The M.I.B.neuralysed her parents to erase their memories of it but not Molly and she spent the next 20 years obsessively trying to find the secret organization. After tracking them down, Agent O (Emma Thompson) grants her probationary status as an agent and she is renamed Agent M (Tessa Thompson) and is sent to London to work from that office. There she meets the cocky Agent H (Chris Hemsworth) and together they stumble upon the existence of the dangerous parasitic race called the Hive. Agent H and the head of the London branch; Agent High T (Liam Neeson), ran afoul of these creatures before and it left Agent H a changed man. Now Agent H, Agent M and a sole survivor of a small group of aliens named Pawny (voiced by Kumail Nanjani) must work together to stop the Hive from taking over and conquering the Earth.
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| They've come for our Double Mint gum! |
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| "Highway to the Dangerzone" should just play automatically with this thing. |
MiB: International is not without its charms, moments or fun aspects but the overall product felt very much like a hollow sequel that, while serviceable and entertaining, lacks the attention-grabbing power of the initial film. A part of this comes from a very different look to the film as Barry Sonnenfeld did not direct this one and he has a very unique eye that gave the other films their look and overall atmosphere. F. Gary Gary is the director on this one and while he’s not doing anything particular wrong with his approach there is the very real feeling that you are watching something that doesn’t have the same visual style and tone and that ends up making the film feel very detached from the franchise.
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| Kumail Nanjani as an adorable little alien...that was definitely a major selling point for me. |
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| My life would improve in all facets if I looked 1/8th as good as Hemsworth. |
The story, additionally, has a tendency to come off very sloppy. Plot threads are established but end up feeling weakly resolved or used as a Dues Ex Machina for later in the film. For example, Agent M’s encounter with an alien as a child not only kicked off her desire to find the M.I.B. but it also feels like it was going to pay off in a large way later on in the story but, ultimately, was just used as an easy way to get her and Agent H out of a tight corner. There’s also the establishment of Agent H’s first encounter with the Hive and that it left him changed. We know this because it is stated a lot by the characters but this aspect ended up being something that is essentially the film telling and not showing. The establishment of Agent H at the film’s open introduces him just fine but he seems the same when we get to see him later when all the peripheral characters are saying he’s different. It would have been nice to, as a viewer, feel and see this difference rather than just trust the word of the characters.
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| This alien likes the deep vees. |
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| I like Rebecca Ferguson but a three-armed alien feels like a very lazy design. |
I sound like I’m ragging on the product a bit but the film wasn’t a huge collection of shortcomings. There are aspects that I genuinely enjoyed about the product. It’s got some cool action scenes and there is some funny moments that made me giggle but the strongest aspect was the cast. Kumail Nanjani brings at least 90% of the film’s humor with his little alien character Pawny and Hemsworth and Thompson both bring their natural charisma to their roles. While this partnership isn’t as vibrant as it was in Thor: Ragnarok, they still work well together. One thing about Tessa Thompson that always impresses me is how she is capable of making every character she plays feel very dynamic and fully developed from the moment she first appears on screen. There’s a way she plays her characters that always feels authentic and always feels like there is so much more to them than what you are seeing. Even with the writing issues the film has, Tessa’s Agent M feels multi-dimensional due to her acting talent.
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| Is Tessa Thompson one of the greatest people to exist? Of course she is! |
Men in Black: International is a sequel that superficially is moving the franchise into a new direction by throwing out the idea that the alien organization exists outside of New York but it doesn’t do much to really explore that idea. It’s got a great cast and has some fun elements but the story has a lot of weak spots and ultimately left it a serviceable film that is okay and entertaining enough to check out but not much else beyond that.
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