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By Nathan Hurlbut
When it comes to sequels, there’s the conventional wisdom that each subsequent installment will have a difficult time matching the appeal of the one before it. It’s the theory of diminishing returns, and doesn’t always ring true, as movies ranging from “The Godfather Part II” (1974) to “Paddington 2” (2017) prove otherwise. However, these movies are the exception more than the rule.
With that in mind, we are now on the fourth installment in the “Men In Black” series. The first “Men in Black” movie appeared in theaters way back in 1997, and became a huge success due to its imaginative plot, clever humor, and engaging performances. That was over twenty years ago.
So, guess what? Diminishing returns indeed.
The problem is the series has pretty much been on autopilot after the success of the original movie. Both “Men in Black II” (2002) and “Men in Black 3” (2012) were about as original as their titles, mildly entertaining but utterly forgettable popcorn movies that are meant to be merely consumed rather than digested for nourishment.
At least those sequels still featured the spark of camaraderie between Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith, a crucial ingredient in the first movie. Here, with “Men in Black: International,” we instead have that pair replaced by Chris Hemsworth (as ‘H’) and Tessa Thompson (as ‘M’) who, actually, turn out to be the best thing about this movie as well. Anyone who had the opportunity to see the two actors playing off each other in “Thor: Ragnarok” (2017) can attest to their onscreen chemistry together.
Add to that recipe the comic voice talents of Kumail Nanjiani to liven things up as Pawny, a diminutive wise-cracking alien who has all the film’s better lines (probably the product of Nanjiani’s improvisational skills), and you have a charming collection of characters to save the universe.
Unfortunately, that’s pretty much all you have with this movie. In fact, if it weren’t for the performances here, the movie would be a total washout. Liam Neeson is convincingly authoritative as High T, H’s former partner and now the head of the Men in Black London branch. Meanwhile Emma Thompson brings a degree of subtlety and nuance to her line readings of Agent O that suggest she may have thought she was actually in a much better movie.
The main problem here is that the story is about as exciting as a shareholders meeting. It’s as if screenwriters Art Marcum and Matt Holloway decided to bounce their characters from New York City to London to Marrakesh to Paris in a desperate attempt to resuscitate a script that clearly needed to be felt for a pulse. Little that actually happens here is very surprising or engaging, and the actors are given the unenviable task of merely going through the motions as yet another uninspired action sequence leaves them with little to work with aside from their own screen presence.
Director F. Gary Gray certainly directs the film competently enough, but inevitably falls short of the inspired mix of cartoonish violence and witty dialogue that the filmmakers brought to the first movie. It must be an exceedingly delicate balance, since the original film’s director Barry Sonnenfeld wasn’t able to viably recreate it in any of the sequels that he personally oversaw. Perhaps it isn’t surprising that a newcomer like Gray was equally at a loss to capture the original movie’s specific charm.
So, if you’re looking for an alternative to a paint-by-numbers blockbuster sequel, I would suggest watching Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson amusingly play off each other in “Thor: Ragnarock,” a clear reason for their casting here. That movie is an inspired jolt of entertainment from a director (Taika Waititi) who clearly relished the opportunity to bring something new to an already established franchise. All “Men in Black: International” suggests is that this aging series should retire from the business as soon as possible.
Rated PG-13.