MEN IN BLACK INTERNATIONAL  2.2***

     Men in Black International is an okay movie but it's hard not to feel that the franchise was  going through the motions in an attempt to recapture the elusive magic that made the original 1997 movie the standout it was.

This time (being the 4th movie in the MIB series) we're introduced to new agents and new agencies, with  Tessa Thompson (as Agent M) and Chris Hemsworth (as Agent H ) decked out in black and on the hunt for rogue alien life forms in Europe and the Middle East. The two actors are charming and Thompson's character is interesting as young a woman who has devoted her life to finding and becoming a Man in Black.

 As we go from scene to scene, it felt like an MIB spy thriller evoking the undercover missions, arms dealers, shady informants, potential MIB mole to expose, exotic locales, and crackling banter of that genre, and that's something none of the sequels have done before. However, I also noted just how forced everything felt. What should be jaunty and droll came across as flat or overly exaggerated, trying to recreate the energy and style of the original but falling short. It feels like when someone is trying to retell a joke but has lost the rhythms that made it so amusing in the first place.

The pieces are there but they don't feel right.

 I also kept noting how it should have been funnier. Many of the jokes are flat or at best thin. The set pieces are pretty humdrum and even the integration of the strange, otherworldly elements and aliens feels lacking.

With that said, Hemsworth and Thompson remind you how winning an onscreen pair they are, and even with their charm kept at a lower, simmering level they are still enjoyable to watch.

There's a predictable storyline about an alien invasion and a predictable turncoat reveal, but it's all played so blandly that it's hard to get feel any tension. MIB International is a sometimes amusing movie that's hard to hate and hard to love. If you're a fan of the series  it should provide enough entertainment, but much like one of those handy-dandy MIB neutralizers, you won't remember much after. 

Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action, some language and suggestive material. |