First Take: Men In Black International- can someone give that guy his hammer back?

SYNOPSIS: The Men in Black have always protected the Earth from the scum of the universe. In this new adventure, they tackle their biggest threat to date: a mole in the Men in Black organization.

I wanted this film to work. They’ve been trying for years to shake the shadow of Will Smith off this franchise- firstly by planning a crossover with 21 Jump Street, but when that fell through, the powers that be at Sony decided to go with the Ragnarok option of pairing 2 comedically gifted and versatile actors together in an attempt to recreate the magic. Bad. Idea.

F. Gary Gray is in charge of the action on this film, and mercifully it drags on for a 1 hour 54 minute running time- of which 10 minutes are basically devoted to the credits. The pacing is all over the shop here, and the script from Matt Holloway and Art Marcum doesn’t help matters either; sure, some characters have some good moments, but it is clunky, awfully written, and there is a twist late in the third act that makes absolutely no narrative sense whatsoever. I will give it some praise, as it is shot well by Stuart Dryburgh, but the score from Danny Elfman and Chris Bacon fails to replicate the style we’ve known from the first 3 MIB films.

This does bring me on to the cast though. Yes, it’s star-studded. Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson do the best with the material they’ve been given, but as for the rest of the cast- an esteemed group which includes Emma Thompson (who can salvage some comedic joy out of any film), Kumail Nanjiani (arguably the film’s best bit), Rebecca Ferguson, Rafe Spall, and fresh from the controversy around Cold Pursuit, we have Liam Neeson. I am very tempted to use the words ‘everyone involved should be utterly ashamed’. But I won’t. This film is difficult to rip apart, as it feels different to the original 3 films, something I respect Sony for a lot. But when it comes to the idea of the reboot… just stop already Hollywood. The trend is dead.

THE VERDICT

Men in Black International is not the film we wanted to see Thompson and Hemsworth make following their exceptional pairing in Thor Ragnarok. Sony are basically flogging a dead horse with the MIB franchise nowadays, especially knowing that there are other alien-based films available. Sure, the money they’ll lose on this film is gonna be offset by Spider-Man in a few weeks, but does that stop me from ranting? Hell no.

RATING: 2.5/5