Film Review: Men In Black: International

09:15 June 18, 2019
By: Fritz Esker

Hollywood's love affair with sequels and reboots continues unabated with the mildly amusing Men in Black: International.


After reaching a satisfying end to the original films with Men in Black 3, the series resumes, with Chris Hemsworth playing a cocky, party-animal MIB agent in London. He is partnered with Tessa Thompson, a rookie who dreamed of joining the MIB after she encountered an alien as a child.

The plot involves a dangerous weapon, invasive aliens, and a possible mole in the MIB. Hemsworth and Thompson had good chemistry in the superior Thor: Ragnarok, and they work well together here, too. There are some funny lines and a few creative creature designs. But while the original Men in Black was a tightly scripted 98-minute romp, this one (directed by F. Gary Gray) feels a tad bloated at 114 minutes. It spends the last 20 minutes resolving a plot thread that the script could have found a way to resolve earlier. There is also the "been there, done that" feeling to the film, which plagues even reasonably competent sequels and reboots.

Men in Black International is by no means an insult to the original, but it's unlikely that the franchise continues for a new set of films.

** ½ stars (out of four)

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