When you have a franchise that makes money, there's always a risk you at some time push things too far. That you move so far away from what made the original great, that it kills the franchise as such. If there are any intelligent people left on the universe, MIB International, is just that for its franchise.
Let's try to start on a positive note, though. There is an aesthetic treat for the women in Chris Hemsworth. Unfortunately he's mostly obnoxious in every way but the funny ones. Hence bringing nothing but his looks to this film. Tessa Thompson is awful in a way I thought we'd be spared after Jake Lloyd. She's actually more frantic and daft than Shia in Transformers. And that, as he said, is saying something. There's hardly a single scene she's able to carry with any kind of believability. To have her in the same room as Emma Thompson would have been a shambles unless the latter had been so low on motivation. And since Hemsworth is so bad, and Tessa Thompson is epically bad, their chemistry is non-existent. To make matters even worse, there isn't even a baddie worthy of mention.
Tessa and her accomplices have no help from lacklustre directing and and utter failure in choosing a path. The first and third instalment were tongue-in-cheek (the second just shit), but they did have an adult tone. Director Gray seems to feel that if you can mix the original MIB with Lilo & Stitch and a bit of all modern ka-ching films, then all shall be well. So the tone of the film at times would fit a 9 year old. The problem is that the humour, for instance, is more fitted to teenagers. Only the dumbest teenagers, but still. Pawny is a perfect example. Coming in a close second to Jar-Jar in utter CGI uselessness. You have to be a complete film moron (or work in marketing) to develop that creature.
The action sequences are mostly rip-offs low on creativity, quite astonishing for a film that doesn't have to adhere to current technology, gravity nor much else. Even the CGI is poor, particularly the scene in the desert. And the twists.. So daft it begs belief. If you want to make a cartoon, make a cartoon. Don't waste otherwise decent actors in buffooning around for two hours.
So does it have any redeeming features? Well. Apart from Hemsworth's BEAUTIFUL car... No. It's almost as bad as Transformers, and as ruined by marketing as modern Star Wars. In short this is milking a concept of its very last drop of dignity. MIB now has none left, and will need Chris Nolan to rise from the ashes. This film is total nothingness on a huge budget, and it has no value other than being an example of how much can be done badly.
2/10
