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After 15 years of managing Earth’s alien population as shadowy Men in Black agents, it was time for Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones to pass on their neuralizers to a new generation of agents. So to follow up 2012’s Men in Black 3, the latest film in the franchise, Men in Black: International, starts from scratch with up-and-coming young agents on a critical mission.
Men in Black: International introduces new MIB agent, M (Tessa Thompson). She’s been obsessed with the agency since she was a child, when her family experienced an alien encounter, and she secretly watched her parents get neuralized by men in black suits. Finally, 20 years later, she tracks down the organization and begs them for a job. After she passes her training, she’s sent on her first mission to London. And when a visiting member of alien royalty is killed, M fears that there may be a mole within the organization.
Even though the names and faces and locations may be different, this new Men in Black offers the same kind of out-of-this-world action and laughs as the original trilogy. With this new installment, the filmmakers once again step up the effects, the technology, and the imagination, creating another eye-catching adventure that’s filled with fast cars, dangerous alien technology, and creative creature designs.
Though fans will miss the original cast, the new cast members ease right into their new roles. Chris Hemsworth seems to pick up where Will Smith left off as Agent H, the lovably laid-back agent who earned the right to be arrogant after saving the world from an alien army. He may not play a powerful alien deity here, but he seems to have just as much fun playing H as he does playing Marvel’s Thor.
Meanwhile, Liam Neeson may stick to the office, but he brings Tommy Lee Jones’s experience and leadership as office head High T. And Tessa Thompson ties it all together with her determination, her idealism, and her wide-eyed wonder.
Of course, this spinoff isn’t without its flaws. But this isn’t the kind of movie that warrants nitpicking. It isn’t especially new or memorable, but it’s simply a fun-filled summer popcorn flick that you can enjoy with the family.
Fans of the original Men in Black movies will definitely miss the chemistry between Smith and Jones. But Men in Black: International gives viewers the same imaginative intergalactic action with the new cast. It may not be ground-breaking, but it’s still entertaining.
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