263. Men In Black International; movie review

MEN IN BLACK INTERNATIONAL
Cert 12A
115 mins
BBFC advice: Contains moderate violence, threat, sex references, language

Was there any real need to make another Men In Black? Well, the studio chiefs who have netted $100m+ so far will obviously think so.
It strikes me that cinema-goers must have become much less discerning in recent years. If not, why are they lapping up such meagre fare?
The original Men In Black was a classic. It was fresh, funny and fast.
This doesn't have nearly as much charm and engendered a feeling of deja vu from its very first frame.
Chris Hemsworth's H character has heavy echoes of Thor (even down to a mini-hammer) as he leads the MIB investigation into the killing of an alien pal.
He will have felt at home because another key player from Thor (Tess Thompson) plays the enthusiastic junior who has wanted to be an agent since childhood.
In other words, she is the puppy-alike who replaces Will Smith and Hemsworth is the seen-it-all-done-it-all who fills Tommy Lee Jones's boots.
At the top of, the tree is Liam Neeson as the MIB boss who had previously seen off the villainous Hive.
Anyway, The Hive are back via a couple of shapeshifters who are causing havoc and seem to be impossible to kill.
Anyone who hasn't seen Men In Black might think there is a spark of originality to this version (although they may be confused by the Thor crossover). Those who were blown away by the original will probably be as bored as I was.
Twenty years ago, humans being transformed into ugly aliens was a new concept - now it prompts a feeling of 'been there, seen that'.
Meanwhile, Hemsworth's laid back, 'I'm in charge and it will all work out well' routine is wearing so thin that he is in danger of looking like a one-trick pony.
And the rest of the cast are rather wasted, playing out a story about the potential end of the world with remarkably little gusto.
But who cares, if it is all about the money.

Reasons to watch: Intrigue for a once-great franchise
Reasons to avoid: Was there really a need?

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 5.5/10

Did you know? Frank the Pug and the Worm Guys are the only characters from the first film to also physically appear in this one. Although they have a prominent place on the movie's poster, these characters have less than a minute of screen-time.

The final word. Chris Hemsworth: "“Thor’s stunts are wildly complicated, but it feels like an atomic bomb goes off with each of those [hammer] hits. Everything is sort of magnified to a level that is so nonhuman. Whereas this, we have to keep grounding it. There’s always a part of it where I’m like, ‘Can I do a flip or just sort of leap from this building to that one?’ and they’re like, ‘Nah, humans don’t do that sort of thing,’ So they have to rein me in occasionally.”

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