#MovieMonday: Men In Black International: Watch It If You’re A Fan, Bored Or Love Thor

As a kid, I was fascinated by the Men In Black universe. Aliens co-existing alongside humans?

Sick.

And really, it’s little wonder why I used to put on shades and a suit and just stare at my mum on a perpetual basis.

“If you don’t fetch me my cereal I’m gonna use the neuralizer and make you forget that you were ever born,” I once threatened.

“Oh so scaryyy. If you neuralize my mind I’m gonna forget to give you pocket money and you’re gonna starve for the rest of the day.”

I thought about it. “Well alright, you’ve lived to see another day, woman.”

Yeah, I still cringe at that.

Yet, even so, I couldn’t forget my roots, and so you could only imagine my excitement when the news broke out:

The Men In Black franchise was getting a sequel, titled Men In Black: International! What’s more, the movie’s gonna star our favourite pairing from Thor: Ragnarok!

Are you kidding me?

And so naturally, I went down to get two tickets for my date and me, and we sat down to watch Men In Black: International.

But here’s the thing;

Did it actually live up to its hype?

Well, let’s find out.

Premise

For those wondering, the synopsis for the film lies as such:

“The Men in Black have expanded to cover the globe but so have the villains of the universe. To keep everyone safe, decorated Agent H and determined rookie M join forces — an unlikely pairing that just might work. When aliens that can take the form of any human arrive on Earth, H and M embark on a globe-trotting adventure to save the agency — and ultimately the world — from their mischievous plans.”

Falling into the Fantasy/Sci-fi genre, the 1h 55m long film is directed by F. Gary Gray and stars Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, Liam Neeson and Emma Thompson. It was also filmed against a budget of 110 million USD and takes place after the last film in the franchise, Men In Black 3.

Here, you can view the film’s two designated trailers down below:

And should you be a review junkie, here are some of the more official review ratings up on the board.

Although it has to be clarified that over on Rotten Tomatoes, scores are kind of divided.

Or if I were to put it in simpler terms, the Baywatch effect.

And on to the movie review

You guys sat through 400 words of fluff (including a lame af intro that’s making a disabled person shout ‘lame’!) for this, so I’m gonna make it short and crisp.

It’s good, but it could definitely be better.

First things first, the plot.

Centring around an intelligent eager newbie, Agent M, and her inept, used-to-be-proficient-and-cool senior, Agent H, the film revolves primarily around their budding camaraderie and the whacky adventures they go on.

Hardly the worst recipe for a Sci-fi action comedy film.

But to be fair, there’s so much more than a seemingly 21 Jump Street copy here. Apart from the aliens, whom we’ve grown to ‘love’ throughout the last three films, the film does introduce some twists and turns that will get you thinking:

“Do I really know it all or do I just think I know it all?”

Unfortunately, I can’t reveal the answer because it would be a spoiler but I’m just gonna go out on a limb and say that it’s more of the latter.

What do you need to know, however, is that the plot is much more than it seems at first glance.

Whether it really gels well, though, is another story.

And then we have the cast members

If you’ve watched Thor: Ragnarok, you would be more than familiar than Tessa Thompson, who played Valkyrie in the Marvel movie.

And while we’re at it, you would surely have caught sight of their sizzling chemistry, a potency that lent heaps to the appeal of Thor: Ragnarok.

And well, guess what? Men In Black International has got all that too. With Thompson’s character and Hemsworth’s character ‘hitting it off’ right from the start, we were comfortably seated in for a grand showcase of their bickering ‘romance’, and couldn’t help but wonder whether we were watching MIB: International, or Thor 4.

But hey in my defence, those cheeky Avengers references didn’t help either.

And of course, when you have the indomitable Liam Neeson (who did take something in the film) and the ‘strict’ Emma Thompson in the same film, you know you got a powerful movie in the works.

Though if you fancy yourself as a lover of all things cute, I think you’ll like Agent M’s little ‘compatriot’ in the movie, whom my girlfriend gushed over. As a character in the movie quite aptly said:

“It’s cute… in an ugly way, isn’t it?”

But hey that’s enough spoilers for now.

What then, is holding it back?

As you might’ve surmised from the sub-par reviews, you would probably have wondered:

“What’s wrong with the film?”

Well, having sat through all 1 hour 55 minutes of it, I can say that the critics were right in some aspects.

It did feel a little half-hearted, especially compared to previous renditions.

Where the films starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones evoked a sense of mystery and comedy at the same time, in the process introducing a steady influx of alien-rich history, Men In Black International fell a little flat here. With a concentrated focus on comedy, it served to compromise the other elements that made the original franchise tick in the first place, and in that aspect, I can see why it disappointed critics, as well as some Netizens, alike.

But even so, I never felt that the movie warranted such poor ratings. While inept in some departments, it did have a number of pros, namely the top-tier performances from its lead actors and futuristic visual elements. While they were definitely insufficient to compensate for the lacking aspects, they served, at least to me, to salvage the movie’s reputation to a certain point.

24% according to critics? Alright, that’s a little too harsh.

And so that leads to the all-important question

Should you watch it, or not?

Well, I’m just going out on a limb here and say:

“Watch it if you’re a fan of Men In Black, a fan of Thor and Valkyrie, or just plain bored.”

On the other hand, if you fancy yourself as an over-thinking sceptic with a knack for depressing moments that shouldn’t be taken lightly…

This probably isn’t your thing.

Final score: 3/5