Great chemistry in new adventure
IT’S been seven years since the last and third Men In Black (MIB) movie and 22 years on from the first instalment when viewers saw the original team of Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones as oddball partners Agent J and Agent K from a shadow organisation tasked with saving the world from the baddest intergalactic scum.
Movie No. 4 continues the sci-fi action comedy with fresh leads for another Earththreatening soiree across the globe befitting its comic book roots.
The new movie has Tessa Thompson as Agent M, who had witnessed an MIB experience with her parents when she was just a young girl which left a lasting impact.
After spending years to find the mysterious outfit she finally succeeds and is shift off to MIB’s UK branch, which is headed by High T (Liam Neeson), where she meets its top agent Agent H (Chris Hemsworth).
The curious and ambitious lass soon teams up with Agent H and the two get embroiled in a world-destroying adventure after investigating a simple lead that turns out not to be as easy as it looks. Along the way they meet more alien characters both good and bad.
Also thrown in the plot for good measure is the discovery that there is a mole in the MIB organisation that is behind the whole end-of-the-world affair.
The new movie riffs off the previous MIB instalments and has that fun offbeat feel with several homages and nods that will tickle the fancy of fans. The opening credits and music was a nice tribute to the first MIB movie as well.
But the overall story was quite a straightforward ride with twists that many would see coming beforehand. The biggest downer was the villain though.
Played by real-life twins (hip French dancers and choreographers, Laurent and Larry Bourgeois), the alien shape-shifters known as The Twins have immense power and seek out a dangerous artifact. They didn’t speak much and were mostly in the
background. And their battles, although big, didn’t really make an impact either.
Perhaps the most obvious highlight of the new movie were the two leads who worked well together and displayed potent screen chemistry.
Coming right off their work together on Thor: Ragnarok and Avengers: Endgame, Hemsworth and Thompson were enjoyable to watch whenever they were onscreen together. The banter, ribbing and eventual friendship, without an unnecessary romance, were what made the movie tick. Hemsworth also displayed some effective comedic chops, which hopefully he’ll continue to do in future comedy-genre movies.
Director F. Gary Gray, who helmed the interesting biographical drama Straight Outta Compton (2015) and the mega-franchise blockbuster The Fate Of The Furious (2017), delivers a decent, straightforward movie in Men In Black International that will keep audiences occupied for its duration.
Although Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones will be missed, the two new leads are the saving grace of this movie and serve to inject that much needed fun vibe that the MIB movies are known for.