Men in Black International is the fourth film in the MIB franchise and for the most part, it feels like déjà vu. Sure, the setting is London this time, but I could not shake the feeling that we have been here and done this before.
The story of Men in Black International
We see Agents H and High T travelling to Paris to stop an invasion by an alien race known as the Hive. They attempt their retaliatory effort at the Eiffel Tower using a wormhole from a previous attack. We are not privy to the details of how this event plays out and are abruptly dropped in Brooklyn 20 years prior in the year 1996. This is where we meet a young Molly Wright who has witnessed her parents being neuralysed by two men in black suits, one sounding strikingly like Agent High T.  While this is going on, Molly encounters a small alien creature whom she helps escape the men outside. Having avoided having her memory wiped, Molly works for the next twenty-three years to find these “men in black”.Here is where Men in Black International takes a few liberties with just what a person could possibly get away with.
Molly has been logged into NASA computers and tracking various airborne objects entering the Earth’s atmosphere. She gets a hit that is promising and quickly leaves her mundane job at a call center.
Having tracked the landing, Molly quickly heads to where it should be only to be thwarted by a normal looking alleyway. By chance Molly witnesses some birds flying into the high voltage fencing and the air above it and disappearing. Taking her life into her own hands Molly decides to reach into the fencing. Realizing she was not dead she decides to put her face through the screen and is amazed at what she sees. The alien spaceship and its occupant and many men wearing black suits walking around.
Knowing she has what she was looking for, Molly immediately returns to the cab and tells the driver to follow the black cars as they leave the alleyway. Arriving at the now familiar front entrance, Molly gets out and walks in trying her best to appear to be a member of the Men in Black.
She gets into the main hub area and sees enough to know she is right before the elevator drops her out of sight. She is quickly taken to a room to have her memory wiped and returned to her daily life not remembering anything.
Laws of improbability continue to rear their ugly heads
As much as what you just read is improbable, it continues as Molly attempts to talk her way out of having her memory wiped. She tells the agents that she knows what the neuralyser is and this immediately stops the proceedings because only agents should know about that.Detailing her encounter as a youngster, leaving out the alien she helped escape, Molly talks her way into a probationary arrangement with the Men in Black.
Did I mention this is just more improbabilities stacked on top of improbabilities?
Molly, now known as Agent M, is sent to the London branch of the Men in Black to learn the ropes and show she has the capabilities to be a full agent. This is where she meets Agent High T and Agent H, Chris Hemsworth (Thor for everyone following the other Marvel properties movies).The main villains make their entrance
The main enemies of the movie, other than the Hive, are twin aliens that harness pure energy. These two are pretty much nothing but trouble for the Men in Black throughout International.I cannot give too much away about their activities without giving away some major plot points later. As my rule for reviewing movies is to stop at about the halfway mark, I must pull back a bit with Men in Black International because halfway through is full of spoilers.
What Men in Black International truly is
Look, the only thing I can really criticize the critics over their views on this entry in the Men in Black franchise is their mention of “social justice warrior” stuff. I really did not notice this or am just numb to it at this point and it flew over my head. Either way, there is only one major point that I can point to where SJW stuff pops up clearly.This scene was shown in some commercials for Men in Black International, so it is not really breaking my rule of cutting off at the halfway point.
Agent H makes the statement that they are the “Men in Black,” looks at Agent M behind him and then back towards the camera and continues, “Men and women in Black.” Then he turns back to Agent M and gives her a toothy grin and a thumbs up.
If that one scene can ruin the movie for you then you have bigger problems than Men in Black International does with keeping a coherent story going.
Where Men in Black International fails
Men in Black International spends more time on special effects than it does giving us reason to care about this branch of the Men in Black. While I was entertained, I could see how people new to the franchise would be lost, lose interest, and generally be upset that they spent money to see this movie.Like the whole Hive thing and the “mole” inside the MiB. Those two plot points are all but forgotten through most of the movie only to be pulled out when something is needed to fill movie time. There just seems to be a lot of padding going on here so that the movie has a longer run time.
Granted in the first MiB movie there was padding but it was used to show Agent J’s confusion and challenge to accept his situation. Agent M, while she spent most of her life to get here, is almost super humanly accepting all this new stuff and is almost immediately cool with it. That is not a great way to portray a wide-eyed character that is getting to run around in the ultimate thrill ride of their lives.
Character development is the worst part of Men in Black International. This could have been forgiven had they brought back established characters to fill some of those roles. As it is, people like Liam Neeson are almost paper thin in their roles in the movie and by the time we get any kind of major development, the movie is almost over. Some missed opportunities here.
Should you watch Men in Black International?
That depends. If this is your first experience with the franchise, then no. Go watch them in order, maybe skip three if you are feeling fatigue with the franchise after part 2’s drawn out angles.If you are like me and want to see more of the MiB universe then definitely catch MiB International as you get to see a whole new branch. Maybe now is the time for the MiB franchise to go back to animation, like the television series in the 90’s. The special effects are going to kill future installments if they continue with live action.
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Check eBay for copies of the Men in Black comics which the movies are loosely based on or to grab copies of the MiB movies
