Men In Black: International is a science fiction action film directed by F. Gary Gray, it serves as the 4th instalment in the franchise, also being the worst, it is notable for being the first Men In Black film to not feature Will Smith, or Tommy Lee Jones. The plot follows new duo Henry (Chris Hemsworth), and Molly (Tessa Thompson), as they try and stop an alien invasion.
This film came out with a thud, it was dead on arrival. The Men In Black franchise has been continually on the decline since the second film, the first two films were good, mainly because Jones and Smith had great on-screen chemistry together and were likable. The third film was fine, it wasn’t bad, it just left very little impression, the only notable good thing about it was that it featured Jeamaine Clement. However, Men In Black International dives even further still and is aggressively bad. There is not one reason why this film is bad, sure it is bland as hell, the plot feels like a rehash of other better science fiction films, the jokes like ‘oh Men In Black isn’t very inclusive we should change the name to Humans In Black’ are cringey and take you out of the film, but it is hard to point to any one thing.
I think the reason why this film is so bad is because there is no chemistry between Hemsworth and Thompson, unlike in Thor Ragnarök where the two had great on-screen chemistry, thanks in no small part to Taika Waititi, here it is cold and flat. Hemsworth just plays a caricature of the character he normally plays, the good-looking dummy who gets all the girls and saves the day and I don’t know about you, but I am starting to get bored of it. He has had no luck as a leading man outside the MCU and I think that is proven here. Thompson on the other hand is the more likable of the two, her character actually made me laugh, but even she wasn’t on top form, she seemed uninterested and as though she was just doing it for the paycheck.
The only good thing I will say about this film is that the side characters are great. Rebecca Ferguson as arms dealer and Henry’s ex Riza is a cool character and has an interesting fight scene later on in the film. Kumail Nanjiani is terrific as Pawnee and I could easily watch a whole film focusing on him, but these two characters are barely used.
I’m not even going to get into the ridiculously obvious twist about Liam Neeson’s character, which would be harder to miss if it was running down the street, towards you, wrapped in meat eating a can of dog food.
Overall, this film proves that the series has no where else to go and that it can’t work without Jones and Smith, so they should stop trying. It is aggressively bad and boring, and the thought that Sony was stupid enough to think this stinker could restart the franchise is in and of itself hilarious.
Pros.
The side characters are cool, too bad they are barely used.
Cons.
The “jokes” are cringe.
Thompson doesn’t really care, and Hemsworth is playing himself, but with a weird inconsistent accent.
The plot is utter garbage.
The CGI use is bordering on obscene.
1/5
Reviewed by Luke
Another Millennial Reviewer 