Ron Jacobson Reviews Men in Black International

In this reboot of the franchise, the Men in Black expand to cover the globe, but so have the villains. The original cast of Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones is gone and has been replaced by the next generation of the franchise: Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson and Liam Neeson.

2019 has already been swept by long thought very dead franchises, MIB International emerges as yet another disappointing reboot that should have been left alone. The elaborate scenes on locations like London or Marrakesh, worthy of a James Bond movie, didn’t really take this movie beyond what the industry would consider a studio pitch gone very wrong. And if I may say as a side note, in times when immigration is all the time in the headlines that the writers of the movie decided to omit even the tiniest bit of social criticism in a movie about a government agency that handles the immigration of aliens is truly beyond me.

Director Gary F. Gray, unfortunately, is no Barry Sonnenfeld’s. His visual effects skills are lacking here too, which makes the whole thing seem awkward and a bit of a mess. Grey tried to add some modern tweaks to the premise, taking a risk in putting a greater emphasis on the chemistry of his leads rather than on the special effects and gadgetry. Yet can the magical chemistry of Smith and Jones really be recreated???

MIB International is set for people who know the premise of the franchise but weren’t actually old enough to have seen the movies when they were originally released, that by itself is an oxymoron.

It is sad to say but you won’t even need one of those neutralizers from the MIB to forget this movie. Lightning rarely strikes twice, let alone four times, it is totally OK to skip this one, a very deserving Thumbs Down from me.

About Ron Jacobsohn

World renowned, award winning, correspondent, Ron Jacobsohn, brings from his very entertaining world to Ron's World.

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