Directed by: F. Gary Gray
Runtime: 115 mins
I was quietly excited for the latest instalment of the Men in Black franchise. The original Will Smith/Tommy Lee Jones trilogy was a staple of my adolescence, but unlike other ‘sacred’ nostalgic properties, I felt like the franchise still had legs. There is so much mystery that enshrouds the premise, the world-building so far-reaching and rich that there is a (no pun intended) whole universe of content that can be explored. Really, with a Men in Black film, I’m looking for the simple pleasures in life: fun, adventure, and a smattering of wit. Unfortunately, after leaving Men in Black: International, I found myself sorely disappointed.
This time, we follow rookie Agent M (Tessa Thompson) and ‘heroic’ Agent H (Chris Hemsworth). After a mission goes awry, and they are confronted with the fact there may be a ‘mole’ in MIB, we follow our protagonists through various alien ‘hijinks’ around the world. As the title suggests, we are not restricted to New York this time. Instead, the operation is global, with title cards signalling our change of scenery. While we are treated to interesting set-pieces, fun ideas, and engaging action sequences, the contrived narrative seems to always get in the way. From the first ten minutes of the film, we know who the villain will be, despite the very obvious ‘red herrings’ they try to instil.
This plotting causes issues for our leads. Tessa Thompson does her very best, and her character could have been extremely interesting given some more development time. Chris Hemsworth’s Agent H, on the other hand, is written as more incompetent than charming, his arrogance becoming quickly unlikeable with his character feeling extremely phoned in. If you combined the arrogance of Thor from his first film, with the goofiness of the character from Ragnarok, you have a decent idea of his character. It seems the filmmakers, profiting off the pair’s chemistry in Thor: Ragnarok, felt as if the meta-aspects of their pairing superseded the need to write any kind of interesting character.
Throughout viewing the film, I really wanted to like it. I kept thinking to myself, “Okay, I can get with this…” and “I guess that kinda makes sense…”, but unfortunately, my child-like wish for something entertaining was bogged down by strange narrative decisions, retreading of concepts, and irritating characterisation. Men in Black is known for imaginative designs, ideas, and set-pieces that pepper the original trilogy. While they may not be known as the most critically acclaimed films, they have heart and charm—something that this continuation did not seem to master. Did it kill the franchise? Not for me, but perhaps in our media landscape, the Men in Black franchise would be better suited to the freedom of long-form television than trying to recapture the magic of an early-2000s blockbuster.
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