Men in Black: International (2019) - Review

I'm not entirely sure how 'Men in Black: International' came to fruition. Originally it was supposedly a crossover with Sony Pictures' own '21 Jump Street' franchise - which is baffling in itself - and clearly there was some debate as whether to make a sequel or straight-up reboot. The angle that 'International' goes for is that of a spin-off to the Men in Black trilogy with Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, focusing instead on new agents M and H, played by Tessa Thompson and Chris Hemsworth respectively. Emma Thompson returns from 'Men in Black 3' as Agent O to bridge the gap between the series', but this film is very much focused on its new cast.

Tessa Thompson plays Molly, who after befriending an alien and witnessing a Men in Black encounter endeavours to find out exactly who MIB are, and how to work for them. Twenty years later, Molly finally encounters MIB again, and is recruited on a probationary basis by Agent O (Emma Thompson), and sent to MIB Headquarters in London, led by High-T (Liam Neeson), where she's sent to protect an alien with the legendary, heroic Agent H (Chris Hemsworth). A mysterious alien force known as the Hive are after something on Earth, and it's up to Molly / Agent M and Agent H to figure out what, and stop them...

'Men in Black: International' is a bit of an odd film, and I think that it's very much trying to appease a wide audience without perhaps focusing on its story. There are many references to the previous MIB films, including the music, alien cameos, titles and even shooting in 1.85:1 (a small detail, but noticeable when put up side-by-side with the original trilogy), whilst Hemsworth and Thompson have clearly been cast based on their popular chemistry in Marvel Studios' 'Thor: Ragnarok'. It's odd to see Hemsworth join another Sony franchise relaunch so soon after 'Ghostbusters' (2016), but the studio are clearly hoping to bank on his comic talents.

Despite the smart behind the scenes decisions though, the story in 'Men in Black: International' really doesn't work as well as it could. It's attempting to be a big, globe-trotting spy film with aliens, but I found myself questioning quite why the characters were going to these locations. It felt a little contrived to spread out the scope of the film, which doesn't work with the general lack of tension throughout. The antagonists, known as the Hive, are pretty underdeveloped monsters, with an interesting design and nowhere to really go as villains. They're stoic, powerful and relentless, but somehow don't really do anything. M and H's first encounter with the Hive is the most static action sequence I've seen for a very long time, and probably the most boring. I never felt that the characters were threatened at all, and it's not for a while after that that M and H have a proper fight sequence again - which, whilst better, is chopped together with lots of fast cuts and medium shots. 'John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum' this is not.

The film has a potentially interesting mystery behind it all, but when I found myself working out the main twist from the trailer alone, I don't think the film really pulls it off. Calling it predictable may seem unfair, but if it's easy to predict from the trailer alone, I think the film could have done something more interesting. It's set-up and paid-off quite well, but the emotional weight of it is very quickly brushed over in favour of a fun action set-piece and banter between the two leads.

Ultimately, 'Men in Black: International''s greatest strength is its greatest weakness. In casting two likable and funny leads in Hemsworth and Thompson, the film wants to keep their comic banter going rather than focus too much on developing a plot. On the one hand hand, I don't think the plot was ever going to be good enough to not want more focus on the two leads, but on the other hand I do think that the film has been structured as a fun buddy-spy film relying solely on the charisma of the two leads. It's a bizarre 5/10 film that earns a whole extra couple of points for simply making the right decisions in terms of focus. Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson really do elevate the film, and I had a lot of fun with 'Men in Black: International', but perhaps better antagonists could've improved it considerably. The supporting cast are all fun as well, including Pawny - a tiny alien pawn who tags along for the adventure - Rafe Spall's sneering Agent C, Liam Neeson's gruff High-T and a number of others, but the main focus is on Hemsworth and Thompson. If you don't like either actor, I can't imagine 'Men in Black: International' will appeal to you, but if you do - it's a fun, if admittedly flawed ride. 7/10