Using a neuralyzer on yourself after seeing Men In Black: International may not be a bad idea. Then again, it’s pretty good at being forgettable all by itself. If you’re director F. Gary Gray (Straight Outta Compton) and up for the challenge of reinvigorating the world of MIB, you have to utilize anything and everything that’s available. That’s not happening here. The franchise’s flatness is easy to see, not even Thor and Valkyrie can hide it.
The terrific Tessa Thompson plays Molly, a girl who grows up seeking the MIB after she comes in contact with a furry baby alien and witnesses her parents on the receiving end of a memory-erasing flash of light at a young age. She knows what she’s looking for, and she finally finds herself sitting in front of Agent O (the incomparable Emma Thompson) getting the whole spiel we’ve heard before. Obviously, Molly makes this look good.
She’s sent across the pond to London, and it’s there where she first sets eyes on the sexy, savvy Agent H (Chris Hemsworth). He’s the golden boy who lives to break the rules, but some say he’s changed over the years. Maybe they’re just jealous since he still has the full support of the big bossman High T (Liam Neeson), former partner and mentor to Agent H who lets him get away with too much. It’s only a matter of time before Agent H and Agent M team up to blast the shit out of some alien scum. And damn if they don’t look super stylish doing it. They must hunt down and destroy a world-ending weapon while battling two threatening extraterrestrial twins (Larry and Laurent Bourgeois) looking for the same thing. Go figure. As if that wasn’t enough – there’s a mole in the MIB thats got to go.
That remarkable Thor: Ragnarok chemistry has somehow been hammered out of Hemsworth and Thompson as they’re too busy running around from one lovely location to the next with not much to do when they get there. Well except when Agent H reunites with his ex Riza (Rebecca Ferguson), an arms dealer with more than two arms. She doesn’t play nice. Anyhow, our two magnificent Marvel heroes have what it takes to make good on such a sci-fi spectacle, but make no mistake – it’s an uphill battle from basically the beginning. Help is on the way however in the form of a hilarious tiny alien (voiced by Kumail Nanjiani) who is in need of a queen and along for the ride.
Not since the original Men In Black have these movies amazed an audience. Did you see Men In Black 3? Changing directors, stars, and locations unfortunately can’t replace or reboot musty material. Men In Black: International has an out-of-this world cast that is sucked into an uninspired and pointless movie that’s content with being intolerably normal nowadays.
“Nature Boy” Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of Brandon’s Box Office In Your Mouth. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.
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