Men In Black International

2019's Men In Black International was the first film in the franchise to not have Will Smith or Tommy Lee Jones. That's not to say that this film lacked star power as to why this has become the least successful of the MiB movies. Chris Hemsworth, Liam Neeson, Emma Thompson and Tess Thompson all star as members of the covert operative team that protects the Earth from alien invaders. Instead, what I think hurt this film was a number of things. Not having Smith or Jones hurt. Prior to 2022's infamous slap at the Oscars, Big Willie was still a massive movie draw in 2019. Without either original actor, I think a lot of folks saw this as a reboot instead of a continuation of the series as Emma Thompson's Agent O as well as many of the beloved aliens from the franchise make return appearances.

Having Tessa Thompson as the female lead had a lot of fanboys crying that this was going to be a 'woke' picture even though there have been strong female characters in the MiB movies before. Just not one in the main star role. That woke assessment really could not have been further from the truth. This is a film about a young girl who encounters an alien and witnesses fer parents getting neuralized by the Men in Black. Seeking to know the truth, the girl spends the next 20 years trying to get behind the truth of that faithful encounter, going as far to infiltrate the organization. The woman is quickly caught. But her tenacity impresses Agent O who puts her on a probationary status as the newly minted Agent M. 

M is sent to the London office where Agent O feels that a mole is entrenched within itself within the ranks of agents. Agent M meets the dashingly handsome Agent H who is billed as the savior of the earth from a wretched group of aliens called the Hive. Yet Agent H acts anything but heroic, often coming in late, sleeping at his desk and who's ineptitude has unfortunately caused a huge diplomatic issue by allowing a member of an intergalactic royal family be assassinated under his watch.

The dying royal family member tells Agent O to trust no one. This is the second time in as many days somebody has warned the probationary agent to be suspicious of everyone. However, Agent H is just about the only MiB member that Agent O knows and thus she must team up with him to find out who murdered the extraterrestrial diplomat and who at MiB London was behind the execution.

Tessa Thompson's swagger was less annoying than Will Smith's. She's cool and yet very vulnerable like Alice in an X-Files version of Wonderland. There's a lot of Thor in Chris Hemsworth's Agent H to the point that there's at least one God of Thunder gag in the film when H uses a hammer to battle a gigantic alien enforcer. 

The film does a good job making you think you know who the mole is and then having that character earn your trust and having to start the deduction process all over again. A couple of years ago, the big ending had actually been spoiled for me. Yet despite knowing who the villain really was, I keep falling for the red herrings. In my opinion that's an example of a good movie, not a stinker.

An example that I think this film was nowhere near as bad as critics rated this film was how they took an actor that I absolutely hate and make me fall in love with their character. I cannot stand Kumail Nanjani. He always has this look on his face like he's just smelled something really awful. His distracting facial feature is a big reason I have yet to seek out Marvel's The Eternals despite being a huge fan of Jack Kirby. Yet, here Nanjani is the voice of a diminutive alien guard named Pawny, who clings on to Agent O as his new Queen. Even though I knew it was Kumail Nanjani voicing the role, I was able to overlook my abhorrence of the actor and actually really become a fan of his character. 

As I mentioned earlier, a lot of scuttlebutt on social media was that this film was going to be the woke version of Men In Black. The first two MiB films starring Will Smith makes more commentary on race than this film. In fact, I don't recall a single reference to Agent M being black. There are a couple of jokes about how the Men in Black also have women in the ranks and neither jokes are all that good nor necessary. Especially as the follow up joke involves a character who wasn't even introduced in the movie yet when Agent O made the first comment about the organization. I'm thinking a big scene was cut for time or relevance. 

If anything ruined this movie, it was the use of Chekov's gun. It's a principle that states if something appears in the first act, like a gun, it must make a needed return appearance in the third act to complete the progression of the plot. A throw away line by one of the Men In Black that flashy-things Agent M's parents had me ready for the big reveal as soon as I saw that mystery character return in the final act. Maybe a lot of folks missed the Easter egg but I didn't and that ruined a big plot twist... and I had been spoiled on who the big traitor in the movie was months prior!

Do I need to see this movie again? Just like with the second MiB movie, I do not. But I would not balk at a sequel to this film. Though instead of being an international film, let's go intergalactic! You know there has got to be some humans living on other planets as operatives. How else will Earth know if some alien baddie is on their way? Okay, sure satellites can help. But there's got to be more to it. I would be okay if Tessa Thompson and Chris Hemsworth came back. I would love to see Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones back in action. But let's face it. The actor we want to see return is Bill Hader who's Men in Black agent posing as Andy Warhol was single-handedly the best scene in the entire franchise!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.