As a young girl Molly (Tessa Thompson) comes into contact with an alien in her back yard. When mysterious men show up and erase her parents memory of the incident it sparks a twenty year quest to find out the truth and find the Men in Black. She is smart and persistent and she becomes the first person to infiltrate the clandestine agency. After convincing Agent O (Emma Thompson) that she is worth taking a chance on, she becomes a probationary agent and sent to London. There she is tasked with helping Agent H (Chris Hemsworth) on a mission to stop some mysterious alien twins (Laurent Bourgeois and Larry Bourgeois) from getting their hands on a world destroying weapon. But they have no idea that a mole within the Men in Black could be their biggest obstacle in protecting the Earth from a destruction.
The Men in Black franchise returns with an international spin with very few familiar faces, Emma Thompson being on of very few, and a lot of new faces. F. Gary Gary (Straight Outta Compton, The Fate of the Furious) helms the fourth installment of the series as director. Tessa Thompson and Hemsworth reunite on screen after the successful Thor: Ragnarok, to head a large cast, including Kumail Nanjiani, Liam Neeson, Rebecca Ferguson and more.
If you are a fan of the previous three MiB films you are going to get the gun battles, cool new aliens and plenty of lasers. Also there are some really funny lines, most of them delivered by Nanjiani. The characters are really interesting and you get all of the action that you expect from a summer “blockbuster.” I really liked some of the CGI especially the stuff that had to do with the Alien Twins. The story really is predictable. From the start you can really tell how the entire movie will play out, for the most part. The previous films also had plenty of cheesy moments but it seems like they really ramped it up for this installment. I thought that Will Smith had really taken the Men in Black series about as far as he could and was excited for the new blood, but left feeling let down but this film. The promise of the characters washed away with the predictability and choppiness of the story.
I think this film will appeal to a younger audience and would be a good matinee watch for a family. Enough funny lines to keep the adults engaged and it moves at a fast enough pace to keep kids engaged. If you have never seen the other Men in Black films this might be a good introduction and get you to watch the first three movies. But I think fans of the previous three films may feel let down, as I did.
2 out of 5
Second review by Angele Colageo
The original Men in Black (MIB) franchise began in 1997 as a buddy cop movie with Aliens. The last (so we thought) of the original trilogy (MIB III) ending in 2012. Here we are in Summer Blockbuster season 2019 with the MIB reboot that takes the franchise international. We have the origin story of the new team that is made up of the Rookie – Agent M (Tessa Thompson), with the MIB Legend – Agent H (Chris Hemsworth).
This take on the MIB franchise gives us a sliver of familiarity by allowing us to associate the previous incarnation of the New York MIB offices with some familiar characters and a whole bunch of new characters that contribute to this ride. We are introduced to Agent O (Emma Thompson) who runs the NY base and we are also shown the London office which is run by Agent High T (Liam Neeson).
As Agent M goes through her probationary period, she cons her way to work with the legendary Agent H on the most recent universal problem. We find that Agent H and Agent M have more than a few obstacles in their way. Along their path, they find Agent C (Rafe Spall) who seems to constantly get in their way, make a new friend in Pawny (Kumail Nanjiani) and get creeped out by the Alien Twins (Laurent & Larry Bourgeois, AKA Les Twins if you are familiar with the Step Up franchise).
MIB International is a rather quick ride. There are a couple of slow points in the film but they are negligible. This is Hemsworth and Thompson’s third film together, but first out of the Marvel Universe. The repartee sometimes skips a beat in conversation because their relationship is supposed to be one that is of a more experienced agent with one with less knowledge of how MIB works. They quickly find their rhythm and the film takes off running.
The character that is definitely most charming would be Pawny. (Yes, Chris Hemsworth can be charming too.) The lines and timing of them are just sass in perfection. We do get to see the Worm Guys pop up as well as Frank the Pug. There are a lot of new things we learn about the MIB universe in this most recent film.
This is the Summer Blockbuster of this season so far. It is a fun family film that definitely is worth the ticket.
4.5 out of 5
I think I have to disagree. Yes it was a little predictable in some places, but not the whole movie from the beginning. I felt that it was a solid attempt to bring new main characters into an established franchise. My biggest critique is that it was formulaic to the other movies in the series, which is where some of the predictably comes in. Overall I have to say I believe the movie to be better than the 2nd and 3rd installments in the franchise.
I would give it a 4 out of 5 because what it lacks in originality, it makes up for in entertainment value.