We saw Men in Black:International and it was mostly disappointing
The Men in Black series has always been silly fantasy, with nods to and parodies of popular (mis)conceptions and tabloid/schlock low concept alien and monster stories. At its best it's kind of whacky hijinks with silly tech and neat aliens. At its worst, it's rehashed and boring, relying on CGI to keep butts in the seats. Sadly, MiB:I falls mostly into that second camp. 2/5 stars
MiB:I had a lot of promise out of the gate, with popular leads Chris Hemsworth (Agent H) and Tessa Thompson (Agent M). Add in Emma Thompson as the head of the US branch (as Agent O) and Liam Neeson as the agent in charge of the UK branch (as Agent "High T" - yes, they did that). That alone should have made for a watchable fun movie. Unfortunately, the movie tries to do too much and doesn't do anything really well.
Part of the movie is M's story. After her family encounters aliens while she is a child, the Men in Black neuralize her parents but fail to get her. She grows up knowing they're somewhere and spends her brilliant early adult life trying to find them. Then she does and joins up, nominally as a probationary agent paired with the superstar Agent H. The rest of the movie kind of drops her story in favor of H's story - what happened to him and High T in the past, why T protects him from the consequences of his growing sloppiness, and so on and so on.
There's one moment where H stumbles over the "Men in black" phrase in front of M, trying for "Men... and women in black" but it falls flat. It's almost like the MiB has never had a female agent before, leaving one to wonder where O has been all this time and how she got to be head of the US arm... anyway, don't think about it too much.
The final third of the movie seems to want to be about High T and H resolving their relationship and past, with M being kind of a background observer. It's kind of dull but that may be because I want more Tessa Thompson in my life, a fact about which I am unapologetic.
So, OK, the script is sloppy and not particularly coherent, but at least the effects and aliens are good, right? Enh... sort of? The green-screen work is particularly terrible. The CGI is OK, but doesn't do anything particularly novel.
MiB:I had a lot of promise out of the gate, with popular leads Chris Hemsworth (Agent H) and Tessa Thompson (Agent M). Add in Emma Thompson as the head of the US branch (as Agent O) and Liam Neeson as the agent in charge of the UK branch (as Agent "High T" - yes, they did that). That alone should have made for a watchable fun movie. Unfortunately, the movie tries to do too much and doesn't do anything really well.
Part of the movie is M's story. After her family encounters aliens while she is a child, the Men in Black neuralize her parents but fail to get her. She grows up knowing they're somewhere and spends her brilliant early adult life trying to find them. Then she does and joins up, nominally as a probationary agent paired with the superstar Agent H. The rest of the movie kind of drops her story in favor of H's story - what happened to him and High T in the past, why T protects him from the consequences of his growing sloppiness, and so on and so on.
There's one moment where H stumbles over the "Men in black" phrase in front of M, trying for "Men... and women in black" but it falls flat. It's almost like the MiB has never had a female agent before, leaving one to wonder where O has been all this time and how she got to be head of the US arm... anyway, don't think about it too much.
The final third of the movie seems to want to be about High T and H resolving their relationship and past, with M being kind of a background observer. It's kind of dull but that may be because I want more Tessa Thompson in my life, a fact about which I am unapologetic.
So, OK, the script is sloppy and not particularly coherent, but at least the effects and aliens are good, right? Enh... sort of? The green-screen work is particularly terrible. The CGI is OK, but doesn't do anything particularly novel.