Movie Review: Men In Black International (PG13 – 114 minutes)

Men in Black was released in 1997, was based on the original comics (loosely), and was directed by Barry Sonnenfeld. It was clever, quick-witted, and was part of the three-year swing that turned the Fresh Prince into Will Smith the movie star.  There were two sequels, and in my opinion the second one was not great, and the third one was okay. This one is also okay.  I really do love the original. The effects are stunning and feature a lot of Rick Baker’s practical alien effects.  They give the movie a sense of realism along with its great action and comedy that was not as present in the sequels.

Men in Black International begins with Agent H and Agent T (High T) fighting ‘the Hive’ in Paris a few years ago.  It doesn’t quite go as planned, and from the description given of the Hive and the sequence, I thought the ‘twist’ was very obvious from this opening sequence.  The movie then jumps back further to show a young Molly observe Men in Black neuralize her parents to make them forget that they saw a fuzzy blue alien going through their trash.  Molly helps the baby get away after introducing herself to it - this comes back in a lovely way.  Since she never gets neuralized, that memory haunts her and she spends her life searching for the MIB and tracking aliens here on earth. 

One day she follows a lead right to a MIB arrest and walks right into the New York office. After talking her way into a job, Agent O assigns her to the London office, because ‘something is off’.  Molly becomes agent M, partners with Agent H, and sets off to help him guard a friend of his who may or may not have information about the hive.  Meanwhile, an alien of some sort shows up, duplicates a dude, and heads after a weapon masquerading as Les Twins.

The movie is directed by F. Gary Gray who continues to advance his career by taking on new and different challenges.  All the pieces here are great, and there are aspects of the movie that are great, but someone it is not quite a complete package. Unfortunately, it will keep getting compared to the original.  It’s not as good as that one, but it’s certainly on par with the sequels.  The action is fine, the comedy okay, and the cast is pretty great.

• Chris Hemsworth continues to prove that he clearly prefers comedy-action to drama-action and shines as the slightly bumbling but heroic Agent H.  He’s a little overwhelmed by his own reputation and just as he is beginning to fall apart, M shows up to help him pull together. 

• Tessa Thompson’s M is driven and determined and functions perfectly as the ‘straight man’ to Hemsworth’s bigger comedy.  It’s a similar pattern to their success in Thor Ragnarok, so it continues to work here. They have great chemistry and seem to really enjoy their hijinks together.

• Kumail Nanjiani plays Pawny, and when I say plays him, what I mean is that he provides the voice for a tiny animated warrior.  He’s hilarious and entertaining and provides some wonderful light moments.

• Rebecca Ferguson plays Riza an alien arms dealer who lives on a tropical island with bodyguards and amazing weapons.  She apparently also used to date H.  I really enjoyed her, especially when she and M get into a fight and you realize she has three arms. 

• Rafe Spall plays Agent C who spends most of the movie throwing red herrings around fairly obviously.  He’s certainly game, and I definitely enjoyed the banter between he and Hemsworth. 
• Emma Thompson plays Agent O who is running the New York office and takes enough of a shine to M to send her to London to follow a hunch.  She has the best dry comic timing and seems to really enjoy her role as the one connecting MIB3 to this International version.

• Liam Neeson plays Agent T.  It’s tough, because at this point I’d be fine not seeing him anymore. He does well with what he’s given in this movie, not shying away from the zaniness or the action.

• Les Twins pretty much play themselves. One is Laurent and the other is Larry, but I couldn’t tell you which is which.  If you are not familiar with them, they are incredible hip hop dancers who toured with Beyonce for a bit. This is their first movie, and certainly will not be their last.

Overall, the movie is fine, certainly more entertaining than not.  I definitely was missing a Will Smith cameo.  Like I said, it has some great sequences, and some interesting potential, but doesn’t fit together as smoothly as it should have. I wouldn’t mind another one, just because the core cast seems to really enjoy one another – but there better be some Will Smith in that one.

6 out of 10.

Bonus - more Les Twins action.