Men in Black: International
Director: F. Gary Gray
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, Liam Neeson
Genre: Sunglasses not dark enough
If the preview I saw of Men in Black: International was a Sydney Film Festival (SFF) film rather than just showing at the same time as the SFF, people would have walked out on it.
Maybe it was the free ice-creams or the popcorn or the beers that the distributors laid on, but for reasons I can’t fathom it seems okay to walk out on films you don’t like during the festival that you have paid for but not if it’s a freebie from a desperate distributor that knows their film sucks.
And boy, does Men in Black: International suck. I started writing this review trying to think of more nuanced and highbrow adjectives to demonstrate my displeasure at the film, but ultimately nothing I could come up with was more emotive than “sucks”.
From the lack of chemistry between all the leads, their minimal acting efforts (though that’s Liam Neeson all the time IMHO), the pointless and stupid storyline, the unimaginative aliens and the complete absence of humour from a film franchise built on oddball comedy, Men in Black: International has no redeeming features.
Even the CGI was nothing special, and that’s probably because the whole thing was filmed on sets in front of green screens, a cost-saving measure that almost never works.
Yet I stayed till the end, ensconced in over-salty popcorn goodness and a slight buzz from the beers and the chocolate ice-cream. The film was secondary. By a long way.
Rating: One more beer required, at least.
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film@ssh.com.au
