Given that Men in Black 3 got the series back on track as the highest-grossing movie to date in the trilogy, it's a surprise that Men in Black 4 never happened.
A crossover movie with 21 Jump Street was rumoured (but disappeared), before we arrived at spin-off movie Men in Black: International. Set within the same world as the trilogy, it acts as a soft reboot of the series, with just enough nods to the previous movies to appeal to fans.
The problem is that despite casting the winning lead duo of Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson, Men in Black: International doesn't give them anywhere near enough to work with to avoid the spin-off feeling like a disappointment.
In case you didn't get it from the name, the Men in Black organisation has gone global for the spin-off.
When she was younger, Molly (Thompson) had an encounter with the Men in Black and managed to avoid being neuralyzed. She's spent years hunting down the elusive organisation and after she manages to break into one of their bases, Agent O (the returning Emma Thompson) is persuaded to let Molly become an Agent herself.
The newly-christened Agent M is shipped off to MIB's London branch where High T (Liam Neeson) pairs her up with the branch's very best, Agent H (Hemsworth). Soon, the reluctant pair are drawn into a conspiracy that threatens the very organisation itself, and they're left not knowing who they can trust.
One of the things in Men in Black: International's favour is that it doesn't go down the remake route. There's an assumption that fans know what to expect from Men in Black, so instead of retreads of scenes from the first movie, there are just nods to the franchise's tropes, such as the celebrity aliens.
However, while the set-up gives the movie a clean slate, the plot is disappointingly predictable and stale. The movie is set in a world where aliens live among us, and the best story it could come up with is a mole within MIB ripped straight from 24 (or any spy thriller), seasoned with some reluctant odd-couple banter. It's just not that interesting, especially when it resolves exactly as you expect after some heavy signposting.
Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson bring their entertaining Thor: Ragnarok chemistry to the movie, yet there's only so much they can do with a weak script. Fortunately, they're charismatic performers, so the movie isn't exactly a chore to watch, but you're left longing for what might have been if the most had been made of their talent.
The same could be said of the supporting cast. Rebecca Ferguson's fun cameo makes you wish that her alien arms dealer Riza was the main villain and Emma Thompson is underused in favour of Liam Neeson, who takes the main authority-figure role in the movie. Kumail Nanjiani is there to deliver some hit-and-miss one-liners, while Rafe Spall just sneers a lot.
What Men in Black: International does get right is its nostalgia elements. It's not overdone and doesn't feel like fan service, with little cameos for Frank the Pug and the Worm Guys, as well as a lot of new quirky aliens we've come to expect from the series.
And, on the whole, the special effects are great throughout, faithful to the more cartoony take on aliens from the original movies. The highlight is The Twins, the shape-shifting aliens played by dance duo Les Twins, who are pivotal to the movie's stand-out action sequence that spills out from an alien-friendly club to the streets of London. Some parents might find their body-melting abilities a bit too much for their little ones, though.
The world feels right, at least, but Men in Black: International is never as fun or as thrilling as it should be for an action-comedy. You won't want to neuralyze it from your brain, but in truth, it probably won't linger that long anyway.
Men in Black: International is out on June 14.
Director: F Gary Gray; Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, Rebecca Ferguson, Liam Neeson, Emma Thompson, Kumail Nanjiani; Running time: 115 minutes; Certificate: 12A
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Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
