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Men in Black International

A review by Brooks Rich

Sometimes I wonder if I can't enjoy certain movies anymore. Has my ability to just sit back, turn my brain off, and let something entertain me left me and is never coming back? It's possible because I hated this film with a passion. What a waste of time. This is a franchise that needed to die years ago. I love the first Men in Black. I remember seeing that in theaters when it first came out. It was a monster hit and still holds up as a fun entertaining science fiction comedy. This newest installment has Hollywood cash grab all over it and if not for Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson would be panned universally and relegated to a ninety nine cent rental in two months. The bright spots of the film are those two but if you really want to see them together, Thor Ragnarok is a thing and a million times better than this.

Chris Hemsworth is Agent H and is the best agent at Men in Black London. Tessa Thompson is new recruit Agent M, who found the MIB herself in the only interesting plot point this movie has to offer. The two must work together when it's revealed there might be a mole inside MIB, looking to gain possession of the most powerful weapon in the universe.

This movie is just kind of dull. It has some fun Men in Black stuff but on the whole it just doesn't get all that exciting. The identity of the mole can be seen eight thousand lightyears away and the two villains of the film are lame and not as fun or memorable as the villains from past films. How can we not have someone as funny and awesome as Edgar from the first movie?

This isn't the worst movie I've ever seen but it's so paint by numbers that I'm just not that excited about it. It was clearly written by committee and then sent through focus groups who complained anytime the funny alien guy stopped talking or the film tried to develop character. A major letdown as I thought this film could just be a fun summer ride. I think it's time to let this franchise bow out. Though to be fair, it was time to do that after the second one.

Rating: 1.5/5



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