Men in Black: International Movie Review

Men in Black: International  (2019)

Rent Men in Black: International on Amazon Video
Written by: Matt Holloway & Art Marcum (written by), Lowell Cunningham (characters) 
Directed by: F. Gary Gray
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, Kumail Nanjiani, Rebecca Ferguson, Rafe Spall, Emma Thompson, Liam Neeson
Rated: PG-13
Watch the trailer

Plot
The Men in Black aren't just protecting Earth from aliens bent on destruction, but must also find the mole in their organization.

Verdict
This is just a painfully average movie. It's a retread of the Men in Black universe, offering nothing new and satisfied to provide an only adequate action movie. This isn't as fun as it could be. The characters aren't developed well, and this doesn't have any fun with alien conspiracies.
It's not bad, but all it did was make me want to watch the original from 1997 for a version of what this should be. This movie is a film I'll completely forget in a few months.
It depends.

Review
A big part of why I like Men in Black (1997) is that it purported a world where crazy alien tabloid stories were real. The movie also had a lot of fun with the perceived discrepancies of this world. The crazy tabloid stories were where agents got leads. That and it had Will Smith in the lead at the height of his popularity. I don't even remember the sequels other than the third one featured a young Tommy Lee Jones portrayed by Josh Brolin. That's telling.

This is the third sequel and the first without Will Smith. While neither Hemsworth or Thompson quite have Smith's charisma, the writing doesn't do them any favors either. They do a pretty good job, but they play flat characters rather than nuanced people. There aren't any quotable lines or youtube-able scenes like Will Smith's application sequence. There are a few attempts, but no successes.

Tessa Thompson plays Agent M.

This movie can't introduce us to this new covert world, because the franchise has already done that. This movie is content to do little else than check off the staples of the franchise: black suit, sunglasses, neuaralyzer, transforming car, shiny weapons, surprising celebrities that are aliens, and an alien threat.
It's been twenty years since the original came out and this movie has found nothing new to say. The state of the world itself could be attributed to alien interference, but this movie is nothing more than sci-fi action with no substance.

Chris Hemsworth plays Agent H.

Tessa Thompson is a new agent that searched for this secret organization her entire life. She manages to get hired and makes sure she is paired with living legend Agent H or saved the world. Of course Men in Black is always saving the world and galaxy, so I don't know how that's so notable.

The villains of this movie seem like a rip off from The Matrix: Reloaded (2003) as twins that can phase through physical objects. The character development of the villains too, is absent. Of course there's more to their plight than it seems, but that arc is disappointing.

There's an alien threat to the world, status quo at Men in Black and an early seed is planted that the organization has a mole. That plays out pretty much as you expect. It's just a bit too predictable. It's the type of plot point thrown in because the main arc isn't interesting enough.

I don't know why the movie doesn't have fun with who could be an alien and tabloid type stories. It seems like prime fodder to inject some comedy into the movie. As it is, it's not far from a budget spy movie story dressed up in sci-fi cladding.