Men in Black: International (2019)
★½ — Men in Black: International (2019)
The Men in Black franchise has always occupied a particular corner of late-nineties pop culture real estate, one built on sharp comic timing, a sense of genuine cool, and the kind of lead chemistry that makes even throwaway scenes watchable. The original 1997 film, and to a lesser extent its sequels, worked because they understood that the premise (a secret government agency policing alien activity on Earth) was inherently absurd, and played that absurdity with a straight face and a knowing wink. By 2019, with the franchise having sat dormant for seven years following Men in Black 3, Columbia Pictures and Amblin Entertainment decided the time was right to bring the organisation back, this time without its founding agents and with a broader, more international scope. The result was Men in Black: International, a 115-minute co-production between American and Chinese studios that shifts the action from New York to London and beyond, centering on a new recruit uncovering a mole within the agency itself.
Behind the camera is F. Gary Gray, a director whose career spans an impressively wide range of tones and genres. He made his name with Friday (1995), a comedy that demonstrated a real feel for naturalistic rhythm and character, and later proved he could handle large-scale action spectacle with The Fate of the Furious (2017). His Straight Outta Compton (2015) showed he was equally capable of something more grounded and emotionally serious. On paper, then, Gray seemed a reasonable choice for a film that needed to balance comedy, action and a sense of effortless style. The screenplay comes from Matt Holloway and Art Marcum, the writing duo behind the first Iron Man. The cast is polished but unremarkable on the surface: Chris Hemsworth, who has shown considerable comic range in his Marvel work (see his turn in Thor: Ragnarok (2017)), pairs with Tessa Thompson, with whom he had previously built a well-regarded on-screen rapport. Supporting roles go to Kumail Nanjiani, Rebecca Ferguson and Rafe Spall, a lineup that suggests the film ought to have considerably more wit and energy than its premise might imply.
Hemsworth, to be fair, has demonstrated on more than one occasion that he can carry a genre film on charm alone, and Thompson is a genuinely skilled performer whose comic deadpan has served her well elsewhere. The expectation going in, particularly for anyone who had enjoyed their earlier work together, was that the two might generate the kind of easy, bantering dynamic the franchise demands. Whether that expectation was met is very much the question at the heart of this one.
Men in Black: International is a lifeless, soulless attempt to reboot a franchise that didn’t need one, and it fails on almost every level. Stripped of the original’s cool swagger, dry wit, and iconic chemistry, this version swaps Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones for Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson, who try their best with material so bland it feels like a corporate training video dressed up as a summer blockbuster. Hemsworth leans into his “pretty space cowboy” charm, Thompson does her usual competent deadpan, but there’s zero spark between them, no real banter, no stakes, no fun. The plot is a vague threat to the universe, a mole within MIB, and a lot of CGI-heavy chases that look more like video game cutscenes than actual action. The aliens are forgettable, the jokes fall flat, and the global settings (London, Morocco, Paris) feel like stock footage with bad green screens. Even the production design (the sleek suits, the Q-Branch-style gadgets) feels watered down, lacking the stylish minimalism that made the originals stand out. It’s a hollow, uninspired cash grab that misunderstands the DNA of the franchise. Not just a poor reboot. A poor film, full stop. Should’ve been left in the neuralyzer vault.
For me, that sums it up about as neatly as anything could. There is something particularly deflating about watching capable people work with material that simply will not cooperate, and this film offers that experience in generous measure. The sadder part is that the ingredients were there: a director with genuine range, two leads with proven comic instincts, a premise with built-in mythology to draw on. Somewhere between the pitch meeting and the finished cut, whatever spark might have existed got neuralyted right out of it. Some franchises age into a comfortable retirement. This one deserved better than to be dragged back out for this.
Rating: ★½ | Year: 2019 | Watched: 2025-10-14
Trailer
▶ Watch the official trailer for Men in Black: International (2019) on YouTube
Where to watch
Watch in the UK
Stream: Sky Go · Now TV Cinema
Rent: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Buy: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi
Watch in the US
Stream: Starz Apple TV Channel
Rent: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Buy: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Physical: Amazon US
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Related on Movies With Macca
More from F. Gary Gray: Friday (1995) · Straight Outta Compton (2015)
More with Chris Hemsworth: Thor (2011) · Thor: Ragnarok (2017) · Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) · Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
More from China: Skiptrace (2016) · New Police Story (2004) · Police Story: Lockdown (2013) · Police Story 3: Super Cop (1992)
More from the 2010s: Wonder (2017) · Beautiful Boy (2018) · The Witch (2015) · What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
More comedy: The Eagle (1925) · The General (1926) · Americana (2023) · The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)
More science fiction: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) · Fantastic Planet (1973) · Nightmare City (1980) · The Long Walk (2025)
