Dubbed the most successful buddy comedy in cinema history ‘Men in Black’ starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones is a movie which is difficult to measure up to because of its stellar success.
Nearly two decades later a sequel to the hit had been made under the title ‘Men in Black: International’. Starring the charismatic Chris Hemsworth and the infectious Tessa Thompson, one would have thought that the spin off would have done justice to its predecessor, however as the action unfolds on the wide screen you cannot help noting that it is the script and dialogues which lets the film down.
Aliens and new technologies have been hot topics for story telling for many years. One of the strengths in ‘Men in Black: International’ is that it has managed to adapt to modern times. This was not the 1997 decade that we see on screen but a much more modern and advanced set up.
The story begins when a new recruit named Molly aka agent M lands in MiB London. She becomes the junior partner to H, a fallen hero in the company. Years ago H had managed to save the world from being invaded by a parasitic intergalactic force known as the Hive. However today he has turned into an irresponsible, and irritating blockhead. The two are soon plunged into an adventure which takes them on a series of journeys around the globe in an effort to avert total destruction.
The structure of the story relates how intent the filmmakers are on resembling the 21st action movies. From the ‘James Bond’ series to ‘Mission Impossible’, this change of scenes allows them to show off visual gadgets, enticing backdrops and battles studded with visual effects. However rather than wowing the viewers, these techniques tire them out as there is fast pacing action in every scene. As we went from scene to scene, it felt like an MIB spy thriller evoking the undercover missions, arms dealers, shady informants, potential agency mole to expose, exotic locales, and crackling banter of that genre, and that’s something none of the sequels have done before.
The jokes too feel forced rather than original. It feels like someone is trying to tell a joke which has lost its luster. All the pieces of the puzzle are there but they don’t seem to fit in right.
Two Marvel biggies lead the cast. Hemsworth as Thor and Thompson as Valkyrie created waves in ‘Thor: Ragnarok’. These two actors who have an abundance of acting talents under their belts could have rekindled their magic together if they had been given a project which is worthy of their skills. Thompson’s character is a great re-introduction to this hidden world, a woman who has devoted her life to finding and becoming a Man in Black. It seems to be a pity that with all the resources in hand, Gary Gray has not made use of them.
