Men In Black: International (2019)

Men In Black: International (2019)

5/10

Starring

Chris Hemsworth

Tessa Thompson

Directed by F Gary Gary

Great chemistry. Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson did a movie that just had that—great chemistry and cool special effects. The movie builds on the dynamic they already established when they played Thor and Valkyrie in MCU’s Thor: Ragnarok (2017).

The sad thing about this movie, though, is that it was a drag. It missed its step along the way, especially compared to the tale we loved when we first watched Agent J (Will Smith) and Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) in their black suits saving the world. This MIB tries to play on that same formula. In the first Men in Black (1997), Agent K showed Agent J (the rookie) the ropes. Here, it’s similar, but with Agent M (Tessa Thompson) as the rookie, who seems more grounded, and Agent H (Chris Hemsworth) as the veteran who has lost his way.

We first see Agent H and High T battling the Hive in Paris. Later, we learn they won that fight, propelling H and T to superstar status in the MIB world.

More than twenty years earlier, a little girl named Molly witnessed the MIB use neuralyzation on her parents, making them forget the alien that was in their house. Molly helped the alien escape, and from that moment on, she became obsessed with finding the people in black suits. She put her life on pause, taking jobs that made it easier for her to track anything resembling alien activity so she could investigate. When an incident finally gave her the chance, she used it to infiltrate the MIB—only to get caught.

Here’s the thing: she did something no one has ever done—located the MIB base and even made it through the front door. So, when Agent O interrogated her, she passed and joined the team on probation. O sends her to High T’s branch in London, where she partners with H to protect Vungus, an alien royal family member who also happens to be H’s friend.

Things got ugly fast. Vungus was murdered, but not before slipping something to Agent M for safekeeping and hinting that something was off about H. The two identify the culprits and try to apprehend them, but they fail. Things get trickier when it’s discovered that Vungus gave M a device, and she hasn’t told anyone about it. Agent C decides to investigate, with T’s approval.

The movie has its funny moments, especially when the leads have to battle H’s former love. From that point on, the movie becomes fun to watch—full of thrills and suspense—but you have to wait about eighty minutes to get there. Then, the movie ends with a cheesy, anticlimactic finale.

The odd thing about this movie is that I feel it might end up being one of those films we appreciate more later on. Right now, though, it’s been a commercial failure, and any hope of rebooting the franchise seems to have died here. Unless the studio has some trick up its sleeve to turn a profit, this might be the last MIB we see for a while.