Men in Black: International (2019)

Men in Black: International arrived in the summer of 2019 as Sony's attempt to expand the franchise beyond its original trilogy, shifting focus from New York to London and broadening the mythology to a global scale. F. Gary Gray directed, coming off the enormous commercial success of Straight Outta Compton (2015) and the Fast and Furious entry The Fate of the Furious (2017), making him a reliable choice for a big-budget studio picture. The film reunites Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson following their well-received pairing in Thor: Ragnarok (2017), a piece of casting that must have looked very sensible on paper. Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones were not involved, and the production made no real effort to connect directly with the original Barry Sonnenfeld films beyond the shared mythology.

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.

Rating: ★½  | Year: 2019  | Watched: 2025-10-14

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