Close encounters of the Thor kind
Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson recreate their chemistry from the Marvel franchise, but it’s the only thing that’s truly out of this world in disappointing Men in Black reboot
THIS big budget sci-fi action comedy sequel to Will Smith’s 1990’s blockbuster trilogy offers plenty of glossy CGI action but is surprisingly a little beige once you get beneath the surface. Fresh from starring in mega Marvel superhero smash, Avengers: Endgame, Chris
‘Thor’ Hemsworth and Tessa ‘Valkyrie’
Thompson step into the shoes of Smith and Tommy Lee
Jones as galaxy defending secret agents.
They’re armed with memory altering gizmos, lots of shiny laser weapons and, of course, the essential black sunglasses, as they encounter lots of small, cute aliens, plenty of large, tentacled, angry ones, and those that change from one to another.
Star of the show is the warm and watchable Tessa Thompson, who plays a computer hacker recruited by Emma Thompson’s Agent O, the boss of the Men In Black organisation.
She’s given the codename Agent M and sent to London to team with Hemsworth’s agent H, where the duo’s mission to protect an alien dignitary goes horribly wrong.
A mole is suspected in the MIB, and the most powerful weapon in the universe is being sought by a species of warmongering aliens, known as the Hive.
Very much written as a spy caper, it merrily riffs on the world of James Bond with Hemsworth knowingly playing the hard-drinking womaniser as comically arrogant, reckless, a bit dim and vaguely inept. And it’s completed by glamorous locations, flash cars, gadgets and a beautiful femme fatale in the shape of
Rebecca Ferguson’s intergalactic arms dealer. Plus Kumail Nanjiani adds a lot of humour voicing a pint-sized alien called Pawny.
F Gary Gray also directed 2017’s eighth instalment of the Fast and Furious franchise, and despite rocketing his cast around the globe, he can’t get the pace here up to a similar speed.
Will Smith’s swagger is a big miss and the script should be sharper, but the natural easy chemistry of its attractive stars prevents the film from crashing to Earth.