Men In Black: International
review by Bobby Blakey
In 1997 Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith teamed up for seemed like a silly comic adaptation for Men In Black. The film was great and kicked off a new franchise that spawned 2 sequels, an animated series, theme park ride and more. Now they are expanding the brand with the latest chapter of the franchise with Men In Black: International starring Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, Liam Neeson, Emma Thompson, and Rebecca Ferguson with F. Gary Gray stepping into the directors seat.
The Men in Black have always protected the Earth from the scum of the universe. In this new adventure, they tackle their biggest, most global threat to date: a mole in the Men in Black organization. Prior to this movie going into production there were all kinds of stories thrown out about the next film including the 21 Jump Street crossover that obviously never happened. I always thought this franchise could work on a bigger scale with films following other agents doing their thing. OF course I love the original three films and the dynamic between Smith and Jones but there was so much potential there.
This made me happy to see them expand the franchise to showcase some new agents without feeling the need to force in the characters from the previous entries. That being said Emma Thompson does reprise her role from the last entry making it a bridge to the rest of the franchise. That being said does this new chapter work? For me it the answer is yes. I felt this film offered up everything the previous films gave us that made them so great while still doing its own thing. Sure there are a lot of the same beats as needed, but there is a darker element at times and some fun twists that keep it moving in a good direction. Most of the twists aren’t all that hard to figure out, but it doesn’t make it any less fun.
We already know that Hemsworth and Thompson from their time in Thor Ragnarok, so it was fun to see them back together. Sure it would have been cool to see a new dynamic for either of them to work with, but both of them work in the roles and with each other to create the next chapter of the franchise. The rest of the cast are fine but the one I was thinking might annoy me was the little alien voiced by Kumail Nanjiani. Instead he ends up being hilarious and stealing the show. Sure it’s ridiculous but it just worked way better than it should and I loved him on screen.
If I had any real issues it comes in some of the pacing. At times it felt off trying to find its own voice before finally getting on track. The opening stuff leading up to Thompson becoming an agent just felt like it was a bit rushed. There was some time that it felt strange to not have the original cast at first so hard to get into at the beginning, but works and they have a fun nod to the original film to keep it in line.
Sadly it didn’t seem that this worked for everyone to kick start what was no doubt the hopes for a new franchise, but I still had fun with it. I hope we get more in some way as I love all these crazy aliens and stories. There is so much they can tell with or without this cast so let’s hope they get the chance to do just that.
In addition to the film this release feature tons of out of this world bonus content including deleted scenes, gag reel, and tons of featurettes that take you behind bringing this latest chapter of the franchise to life. Grab your copy of MIB: International available now on digital and then on 4K Ultra, Blu-ray and DVD on September 3rd from Sony Home Entertainment.