Men in Black: International (2019)

Sony is obsessed with making sequels and reboots out of properties that ran out of steam after the first film. 3 years ago a Ghostbusters soft reboot was attempted to mild success, and another Ghostbusters (sequel to the 80s films, not the new one) is set for the not-too-distant future. Problem is, none of the films past the first have ever been able to recapture the spirit and magic of the original. It was a weird mix of the perfect ingredients that shouldn't have worked as well as it did.

I only mention this because the Men in Black series follows this trend closely. The first film from 1997 is a weird action-comedy that blends two great leads with a funny script and creative direction to make one of the best Hollywood films of the 90s. The follow-ups, on the other hand, couldn't figure out how to recreate the alchemy that made the first so good, although Men in Black 3 (2012) was a solid effort.

So here's Sony, hoping name recognition will sell seats along with some solid casting in the leads and supporting roles. Men in Black: International sheds Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, and introduces us to a new pair of agents, M (Tessa Thompson) and H (Chris Hemsworth). M is a new recruit, a go-getter that had an alien encounter as a child and dodged memory-erasure, and has pursued the mysterious agency ever since. H is "the best agent there is," although he seems like a bit of a loose canon, one of those rogue types that gets by on his charms and looks more then his smarts.

The two are paired when M is sent, as a probationary agent, to London to investigate her superior's (Emma Thompson) suspicion that something is awry. Indeed before long it is discovered a mole has entered MiB, and M isn't sure who she can trust in a world where lying is the status quo.

There's a lot of good ingredients here: Thompson and Hemsworth, who were great together in Thor: Ragnarok, are equally well-paired in this film. Kumail Nanjiani is a little alien named Pawny that enters their service; and Liam Neeson is the gruff High T, leader of MiB London. There's also several fun creature designs, a couple fun gadgets, and even a decent action scene here or there.

However, the film simply doesn't work. The script, by Matt Holloway & Art Marcum, is predictable, full of clichés and boring characters. MiB, once full of cool agents who never broke a sweat, even with the imminent destruction of earth always on the horizon, has now been replaced by screw-ups (H) and inner-agency rivalries (a character named C played by Rafe Spall is particularly grating). MiB is, in the words of the over-eager recruit in the first film, the best-of-the-best-of-the-best. MiB is almost dismissive of humanity as a whole because they can't see the bigger picture, and it seems in the 22 years since the first film the agency itself has lost sight of that.

The film is also painfully unfunny. Only Nanjiani as the little alien sidekick was able to garner any laughs in my theater. And as likable as Hemsworth and Thompson are, they just aren't supported by good material. H is talked up as being a great agent, first in line to become head of the London branch, but in this film he is a screw-up, constantly drunk, and frankly an idiot. How he is qualified for his job stretches believability in a film where giant guns appear out of exhaust pipes. Thompson is smarter than him in every way, yet she's the one on the job learning. The film ham-fistedly sets up a reason for H's sloppy performance, but it doesn't really register.

Annoying sequences and moments to make the film "hip" also permeate. Early on, as M is getting her wares, the film suddenly becomes an erratically edited music video as she puts on the same suit and sunglasses every other MiB member wears (there's also some weird mocking of the noisy cricket, which we know is a weapon never to be estimated).f

Ultimately, the film is enjoyable, but forgettable. Sony lined up all the pieces that should've produced a fun, even exciting update to the Men in Black series. But the thing Sony just can't seem to figure out is that all the good ideas were used up in the first film. Sure the others have branched out into some interesting places (Michael Stuhlbarg's character in 3 comes to mind), but these films have nothing to say, nothing to add, no reason to exist outside of reminding people Men in Black was a movie people enjoyed two decades ago.