Men in Black: International

How much do you really know about the universe? Men in Black: International, which was released on June 14, 2019, attempts to show us what’s out there. It is a reboot of the first Men in Black series released from 1997-2012, which itself was based on the comics of the same name. Starring Tessa Thompson, Chris Hemsworth, and Kumail Nanjiani, it is rated PG-13.

Twenty years after finding out about the Men in Black (MIB), Molly has finally discovered their operations base and convinced them to let her join as Agent M. She teams up with Agent H to stop an alien attack. After a mission gone terribly wrong, they believe that the MIB have a mole inside their organization that is ordering attacks. They now have to both stop the aliens and uncover the mole. So, what is really going on here?

The original Men in Black movie from 1997 is a classic with its unique blend of action, comedy, and science fiction. This movie is not as impressive. The action is enjoyable, but not special. The comedy is funny, but really only comes from one character. The two main characters don’t really have chemistry, even though it existed when they costarred with each other in Thor: Ragnarok. They did manage to improve on the special effects since the original, but everything else makes this movie inferior to it. It is a fun movie, but not all its components work together well.

On the other hand, the story is actually pretty good. It is a well written and cohesive plot. We wonder who to trust due to the mole storyline. There is a sense of betrayal however, when you realize that unlike what the trailers led us to believe, there are no shapeshifting aliens in this movie. I mean, it worked in Captain Marvel, so why not do it here? The mole is the real unknown factor about this movie and that’s not as cool. The actors are also not the best they can be in this movie. Both Thompson and Hemsworth come across like they were trapped into doing this movie so they just went along with it the best they could and were looking forward to when it was over. That’s the only explanation I can think of, because I know they’re both talented actors. Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith captured the feel of an MIB veteran and rookie way better than both of them, hands down.

At this point, there was no reason to reboot the franchise. A reboot is never necessary unless people don’t like anything you’re doing recently and you need to change something, but this series didn’t need it. The original classic is a great movie that holds up over time way better than this movie does after just one day.

Overall, this is a fun movie that is still recommended, but feel free to wait for the home release. If you want better action, comedy, and chemistry, watch the original. You’ll get a more satisfying experience out of it than from this film. It’s not the worst, however. It’s still an okay to good movie, just not one I’m looking forward to watching again. That’s my opinion on this new movie, fun to watch, but not a great effort.