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 still remember when the original “Men in Black” came out in theaters back in 1997, there was a great buzz about the film and it did not disappoint. Will Smith had just starred in “Independence Day” the year before and this was his second big hit in a row. Teaming him up with the always reliable and cranky Tommy Lee Jones was a stroke of genius as they both made the movie the success it is today. A secret agency whose sole mission is to track down aliens that have come to earth illegally and send them back where they came from is brilliant and while its two sequels were not as fresh and witty, they did entertain and had some genuinely funny moments.
Now we have “Men in Black: International,” not so much a reboot but a continuation within the same universe as its predecessors, although technically, it could be viewed as a re-imagining. Either way, we have new characters, new locales, and new aliens, enough to keep your brain busy for its almost two-hour runtime. Chris Hemsworth plays Agent H, a living legend that once saved the earth from The Hive, a race of particularly nasty aliens that are supposedly invincible. His partner was no other than Agent High T (Liam Neeson), the man who now runs the London branch of MIB.
When Molly (Tessa Thompson) manages to track down the hidden MIB Headquarters in New York City and infiltrates the building, she is quickly apprehended but before Agent O (Emma Thompson) has her memory erased, Molly tells her that when she was a child, the Men in Black erased her parents’ memories when they inadvertently discovered an alien in their back yard. She saw everything from her bedroom window and made it her mission to track down the MIB and informs O that she wants in. O admires her tenacity and reluctantly agrees upon the condition that she aces her training, which she does. She is then sent to the London branch under her new identity, Agent M, and teams up with Agent H.
When H is given a mission by High T to protect Bassam, a visiting alien dignitary who has known H for years, T orders M to accompany him to the nightclub where Bassam is residing but when two aliens appear and shoot the place up, injuring Bassam in the process, T and M manage to fend them off with some of their high-tech weaponry. Before Bassam dies, he hands M an alien artifact and tells her that MIB has a mole and to watch her back. Unsure of who to trust, she keeps the artifact to herself and when they head back to headquarters, High T is outraged that the simple task they were assigned has gone up in flames. When a lead comes up in Marrakesh in regards to Bassam’s shooting, T sends H and M on their way.
Once there, they are attacked by the same two aliens that stormed the nightclub and while on the run, M informs H what transpired between her and Bassam before he died. They manage to open the artifact and realize that it is a weapon powerful enough to destroy an entire planet and quickly comprehend that the two aliens chasing them are after the device. At the thought of a mole inside MIB, H reaches out to a person from his past, someone outside the agency, in the hopes that they can help him but things don’t go according to plan and just as they are about to be executed, High T and an army of MIB soldiers appear, eliminating all threats. M hands the artifact over to High T to be held in MIB’s headquarters but once they make it back to London, H and M begin to analyze their mission and realize that no matter where they went, the aliens were always able to track them down. When an unauthorized alien portal opens up in Paris, H and M take off to investigate and once they arrive, they finally discover who the mole is and try to prevent them from destroying the earth.
“Men in Black: International” offers nothing new to the series but it is lighthearted and whimsical and should appeal to all ages. Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson have undeniable onscreen chemistry, made perfectly clear in “Thor: Ragnarok“ and “Avengers: Endgame” and here, once again, they play seamlessly off each other. F. Gary Gray takes over the directing reins from Barry Sonnenfeld and does a commendable job, even if the overall atmosphere feels rather flat and occasionally unimaginative, relying on old jokes and sight gags from the earlier pictures instead of infusing it with fresh blood. If you’re looking for two hours to just escape and have fun, you could do worse than “Men in Black: International.”
Now available on Digital and on 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack, Blu-ray Combo Pack, and DVD September 3rd
