Men In Black: International is a film which comes directed by F. Gary Gray who some may know as the director of The Fate of the Furious (2017) or Straight Outta Compton (2015). The film stars Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, Kumail Nanjiani, Rebecca Ferguson, Emma Thompson and Liam Neeson.
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen anything to do with the Men In Black franchise. After 3 films in the series starring Will Smith many years ago, the franchise kind of disappeared. Then out of nowhere sometime last year this trailer was released for a new Men In Black film starring Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson. I wasn’t really sure if it would be any good, but I did like the cast and I’ve always enjoyed this movie franchise so was keen to see the film.
Coming out of the film after seeing it, I’d say I actually really enjoyed it. This film does not take itself too seriously and the director has chosen to place very light hearted tone throughout the entire experience. There are tonnes of jokes throughout the film and while I chuckled a few times, I wouldn’t say it was laugh out loud funny, but I was still sitting there smiling as I was watching as it’s still quite funny and rather fun.
In Men In Black: International the story is that there is someone within the Men In Black who is a mole. No one knows who it is and Agent H (Chris Hemsworth) and Agent M (Tessa Thompson) are investigating. There is also a significant alien threat which emerges throughout the film. The film’s story isn’t too bad, it’s quite light, but it does go well with the film’s set tone. I would say though that if you did analyse it too much, you will probably plot holes and all sorts of sillyness, but it’s not that bad.
With this film I guess being a kind of refresh of this old franchise. It was important to get the characters right. Which is very difficult I believe. Tessa Thompson’s Agent M, is a new recruit to the Men In Black and the film acts as a bit of an origin story for her character. This was good as it helps bring audiences who are new to this franchise in to what the Men In Black franchise is all about. Agent M’s story also has a lot of call backs to Will Smith’s first Men In Black adventure and there are tonnes of references within this film that will make fans smile. Chris Hemsworth’s Agent H, is a seasoned agent and fills I guess the role that Tommy Lee Jones did as a bit of a mentor, but the two characters couldn’t be more different. Agent H is really silly, he’s the centre of most jokes and most of the time I wonder how he even qualified to be in the Men In Black. But what you must remember with this film is that it’s a comedy film first and foremost. Once acknowledging that this film is a comedy film, Agent H actually does fit rather well into this film’s tone and the character is just right for what the film’s director is going for, for this experience.
My only disappointment with this reboot or refresh or whatever they call it, is that it didn’t really do much at all to expand the lore of the Men In Black universe at all all. Yeah we do get some new aliens. But if they just did something to show us more of how this universe operates or expanded the lore in some massive way, it would have been pretty great. If they do make another sequel hopefully they can do more in this area because the Men In Black universe is pretty interesting and there are tonne of possibilities when it comes to its lore that are completely unexplored.
The action scenes aren’t too bad. Men In Black: International is filled with CGI and very heavy CGI in certain scenes. Much can be criticised about this area and I can see some saying that it’s not that great. But I felt that it was actually enough for what this film was meant to be. I’ve always loved seeing the Men In Black weapons and they looked way better than they ever did in the past in this film. Also the car that they drive is very cool. Towards the end of the film where the major events all happen, there is some satisfaction to be had in terms of the action. Throughout the film there’s also a bunch of very cool alien fights.
In the end Men In Black: International is a film that’s a bunch of fun. It’s a film with a light hearted tone that I think will please most audiences looking for a movie experience this week, where they can just sit there in the cinema and chill out for a while, it’s fun enough to do that. The film has a great cast which includes Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, Kumail Nanjiani, Rebecca Ferguson, Emma Thompson and Liam Neeson. They’re all a bunch of fun. It is a heavy CGI experience which is quite good and the action was fairly entertaining. If you go into the film looking for things to be critical of, you’ll find a lot of silly stuff. But if you go in just wanting something fun to see, I think it’s quite enjoyable and I’m happy to recommend seeing it this weekend.
