Men in Black: International (2019)

It turns out the Men in Black is not only an American organisation, with this latest instalment showing the truly worldwide nature of the organisation charged with keeping the worst of the universe at bay.

Young Molly (Tessa Thompson), who witnessed her parents being neuralised by Men in Black agents when she was a young girl, has been on the search for the top-secret organisation ever since.

She finally tracks them down, and walks straight into Men in Black Headquarters, demanding that they hire her, so that she can discover the truths of the universe.

Agent O (Emma Thompson) accepts her reluctantly, sending her to the London branch, to work under Agent High T (Liam Neeson).

Agent O (Emma Thompson).

There, she meets her new partner, Agent H (Chris Hemsworth), whose latest mission has him guarding the leader of an alien race. H seems to be the favourite agent of High T, the two of them having saved the world together some twenty years earlier.

I really can't say any more about the plot here, but there are plenty of things I can say.

The screenplay, by Matt Holloway & Art Marcum, fits quite well into the existing series of films, with the same quality of humour, action and adventure in a decent mix. The characters are all clearly defined, and there are plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing (though some of these were a little too predictable).

The performances of the cast are also good, with Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson being beautifully matched as partners. Of course, they have had experience together in the Marvel universe before this, and so, their on-screen chemistry is fantastic. Both of them also handle that delicate balance between comedy and action thriller very well.

Agent H (Chris Hemsworth) and Agent M (Tessa Thompson).

Keep your eyes (or rather, ears) peeled for an appearance by Kumail Nanjiani, who voices a small alien creature named Pawny. Though he provides little more than comic relief, he is perfectly cast for the role.

It pains me to say that where this film really falls down is in the score. Despite being written by film-scoring royalty Danny Elfman (with Chris Bacon), this is perhaps the worst example of film scoring I have come across in recent years.

My reasoning is simple: the music goes for the entire two-hour duration of the film. Yes, you read that right: there is not a single second of this entire movie that does not have music underscoring it. And the majority of the music is very poorly suited to the moment in which it features.

In actual fact, my rating of this film is based purely on this sadly deplorable fact. This use of wall-to-wall music completely ruins what is otherwise a half-decent film, distracting the viewer from the action, or emotion of the scene, with ill-suited music.

Agent H (Chris Hemsworth) and Agent M (Tessa Thompson) battling aliens.

Despite the fact that I absolutely loved the first three Men in Black films (all directed by Barry Sonnenfeld), I do not expect I will be watching this film - directed by F. Gary Gray - again.

6 1/2 out of 10.