Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

“Men in Black: International” Distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing, 115 Minutes, Rated PG-13, Released June 14, 2019: There are a few things to like in the new “Men in Black: International,” the fourth chapter in the saga which began in 1997. The movie contains comedy and nifty special effects, and works well as a travelogue, zipping from Paris to New York to London, Marrakesh, and Naples. But if you’re expecting something like a “Men in Black” picture, or anything other than a glossy colorful, and very expensive farce, forget about it. In “Men in Black: International,” rookie MIB agent M (Tessa Thompson) is assigned to a probationary partnership with veteran agent H of the agency’s British branch (Chris Hemsworth). When MIB is infiltrated by a hostile alien force, the new agent is quickly tasked with working undercover within the organization to identify the invader. The primary suspect--her new partner. The first “Men in Black” picture in 1997 was fun mostly because of the dynamic between Tommy Lee Jones’ unflappable straight-arrow, by-the-books veteran agent and Will Smith’s fast-and-loose recruit. Their interaction contained the same elbow-in-the-ribs hilarity as a precocious child trying to coax a human reaction from one of the Queen’s Grenadiers, mixed with a gleefully mordant plot spoofing science fiction pictures in general. “Men in Black: International” has none of that. Instead, the new picture offers a silly story, tired puns, double-takes, mugging, and sight gags that would hardly pass muster in a vaudeville sketch. Even the sacred dress code is violated--during the Neopolitan sequences, Hemsworth is stylishly clad in an open-necked white shirt, snug pink slacks, and loafers without socks. Coupled with the actor’s sunny demeanor and Mediterranean tan, he looks more like Neopolitan ice cream than a viable Man in Black. Directed by former music video filmmaker F. Gary Gray from a script from Art Marcum and Matt Holloway, the writing team behind 2008’s original “Iron Man” picture, “Men in Black: International” pays occasional lip service to the earlier pictures: The neuralizer is still occasionally used by the agents, as are the requisite dark glasses. But as a whole, more than any of its predecessors “Men in Black: International” is reminiscent of Roger Moore’s James Bond pictures from the 1970s and 1980s--an bloated and blowzy farce featuring expensive performers going through their prescribed motions with minimum effort. This is one time when bigger is decidedly not better. Also featuring brief supporting appearances by Emma Thompson, a heavily-disguised Rebecca Ferguson, and an outrageously overacting Liam Neeson, “Men in Black: International” is rated PG-13 for science fiction action and some suggestive material.