Men in Black: International

Today, I went and saw “Men in Black: International,” which came out four days ago. Long gaps between films let the makers to restart the franchise for this fourth in the series. With Danny Elfman’s theme music as the main attraction, this comedy sci-fi action film has a badly thin plot. Director F. Gary Fray did not have previous experience in action-comedy, so the humor feels sharp but light, while the action is both over-violent and kind of jumbled. Still, there’s some fun fans will get.

After meeting an unexplained extraterrestrial as a child, Molly (Tessa Thompson) grows up in Brooklyn crazy over finding out whom the alien-hunting Men in Black are, eventually finding their office, where boss Agent O (Emma Thompson) hires her. Her first mission is to find out what’s happening in the London office, reporting to Agent High T (Liam Neeson) and partnering with Agent H (Chris Hemsworth) to protect an alien VIP (Kayvan Novak). Then, things change, where trouble happens in Marrakech and a visit to a three-armed weapons valet, played by Rebecca Ferguson, in Italy.

Rich Cline said in his review, “One of the enjoyable aspects of these movies is the freewheeling way the stories evolve, although this one feels like it was made up as it was filmed, with continually dropped threads and sudden twists. Each scene is infused with digital whizzery of a generally high standard, although most visual gags are rather limp (Gray seems more intrigued by the shiny big guns).” Where everything comes together is in the hurtful chemistry between the characters, like H’s competition with Agent C, played by Rafe Spall.

Cline notes, “As usual, Hemsworth undercuts his swaggering machismo with impeccable comic timing, playing scenes perfectly with a range of foils. He and Thompson rekindle their Thor-Valkyrie banter without skipping a beat, while Thompson brings a superbly steely eagerness to the role. Neeson and Spall provide some cool edges of their own, Emma Thompson packs her few scenes with comedy gold, and Ferguson has a ball in her lively but strangely thankless role.” Meanwhile, Kumail Nanjiani (voicing a pawn that swears to protect Molly) is the comedic relief in the movie.

It’s actually a flaw that a small, really pointless character becomes the audience’s main point of entry. Pawny feels instantly forgettable in the story that has been given additional screen time to lighten up the humor. Cline ended his review by saying, “The result is an adventure that's consistently amusing even as it never quite generates enough spark to make it memorable. If audiences click in to its escapist vibe, that might be enough to make us look forward to more.”

Honestly, I still think this is an enjoyable film, despite the fact that the humor doesn’t come anywhere near to comedy in the trilogy and the villain can be predictable from the start. However, I still think you should see the movie, because it is a nice popcorn flick. If you love the original trilogy, then you should see the movie because I think you might have a good time. If not, I completely understand. I saw it because I used to be crazy over the first movie as a kid. I’m not kidding, I wouldn’t stop talking about it, watching it and quoting it. Especially since the first movie gave Warner Bros the idea to come out with an animated series, which was really good. I used to watch that a lot when I was growing up.

Well, thank you for joining in on my review tonight, stay tuned this Friday for the next entry in “Parody Month.”