MEN IN BLACK: INTERNATIONAL REVIEW
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, & Liam Neeson
Directed By: F. Gary Gray (Straight Outta Compton, The Italian Job)
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 1 hour 54 minutes
The fourth installment of the Men in Black franchise marks the first without Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones.The only mention of the original cast comes from a painting hung on the wall.It’s a sequel.It’s a reboot.It’s an action movie.It’s a comedy.It wants to be a lot of things, but is actually none of them.Men in Black: International is merely a movie that exists.That’s all it does well.After seeing this movie, the only feelings I really have about it are that it is, in fact, a movie.
Tessa Thompson plays a girl who had an alien encounter growing up and managed to not have her memory erased by the Men in Black.Ever since that moment, she’s been seeking out the organization in order to join its ranks and learn the truth about extra-terrestrial life.She’s incredibly smart, incredibly driven, and at times really annoying.She plays that supreme know-it-all we all hated in grade school.
Chris Hemsworth plays an arrogant, well-established agent who saved the world countless times.He’s a bit of a slob.Loose with the rule book.And answers to no one.Basically the lead cop in every cop movie ever.The two leads have had great comedic moments in prior roles.Thor: Ragnarok the two played off each other brilliantly.Here, the two don’t get together until the second act.And don’t seem to really find a groove with each other until the third act.The two have chemistry.It should work.But it doesn’t here.Which is puzzling to say the least.
Men in Black: International suffers from odd writing.I can’t say it’s bad, because everything ties together by movie’s end.But the story is presented in a peculiar fashion.Not linear.Not non-linear ala Quentin Tarantino.But sort of fills in the holes as it goes.Several scenes seem to stop midway through.The part we didn’t get to see is what motivates our characters going forward and we never get the full story or scene until the end of the movie.It just didn’t work for me.
The jokes in this movie are very hit and miss.Some land.A lot don’t.A lot of the jokes that do land are in the second half of the movie, which makes it very awkward when the movie finally does become funny.You realize how unfunny the first half was.Kumail Nanjiani makes a valiant attempt to save the movie in the second half.His character gets the funniest lines.Which feels off since he isn’t one the film’s two stars.
A lot is being made of co-star Tessa Thompson and her attempt to get the title of the movie changed to something other than Men in Black.It doesn’t really come up in the movie.The movie isn’t a commercial for feminism.There’s a couple throwaway lines, but if you go to the movie without an ax to grind, you’ll be fine.
This is the fourth Men in Black movie.It looks and feels like a Men in Black movie.You don’t have to have seen any of the other films to know what’s happening.I didn’t watch any of the old ones before seeing this, I was fine.It might be good to see the original just to know the broad strokes of what this movie is.Men in Black colon International feels like a TV spin off of a successful movie.They got the look down, it feels familiar, but it just isn’t quite right.Like a grocery store generic brand.This movie feels like a Hydrox cookie.
Our film isn’t bad.Going in I thought this would be a shoo-in for one of the five worst movies this year.It isn’t that.But it’s nowhere near good.It’s just a movie.Very bland.Very forgettable.At times it’s boring, which is a cardinal sin.At times, it’s fun to watch aliens fight and stuff blow up.It’s probably the worst entry to this franchise.Although, the second one is really bad.I’m sure it falls in line with the third one because I know I’ve seen it, but cannot remember a thing about it to save my life.There’s just nothing here.
On a scale of "See It/Stream It/Skip It" -- Skip It -- No need to waste your time with these re-heated leftovers.
If you liked Men in Black 3, The Fifth Element, or Rush Hour you might like Men in Black: International
2 stars for Men in Black: International.Hopefully we’ve all learned our lesson and never have to sit through another Men in Black movie ever again.