Men in Black International

“Men in Black: International” is the fourth installment of the Men in Black film series, and the first one to not feature Will Smith as the main actor. And that shows.

Will Smith truly gave the Men in Black series its special spin. Men in Black: International does not live up to that (fairly high) standard. Still, it does not fail to entertain, in my opinion.

A word on “political correctness”

Yes, Men in Black: International features a female actor as the main character. I get the impression that more and more film makers aim for what is called “political correctness” by installing female actors in movies.

I do not think this is a bad idea.

But, why does this mean that movies and film series which strongly build on the “Macho/Bad-Boy” stereotype are now “reinvented” with a female main character? There was a debate about a female 007, there is certainly some online discussion about “Star Trek: Discovery” and now there is a female Men in Black main actor. In my opinion, that is a rather uninspired and dull move. Aiming for more female actors for the main character is a very creditable goal – but just re-doing movies and replacing a male main character with a female feels like a half-hearted attempt.

I, for one, would love to see more new female main character movies.

Plot

In the 90s, Molly witnesses her parents being neuralyzed by agents of MIB. She stays un-neuralyzed. From then on, she aims to become one of the MIB.

Besides from that, the plot does not differ greatly from the other MIB movies, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

Critic

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 23% based on 318 reviews, with an average rating of 4.5/10.

(wikipedia)

Strangely, in contrast to the efforts of installing a female character as a strong woman, the movie has lost its coolness. This could have been the one key point where the movie could be able to continue the MIB franchise with a female main character! The previous MIB movies were always some sort of “bad-boy cool-gangster-themed” action movie with comedic elements. Men in Black International does not continue on that road, unfortunately.

Still, the movie is nice for an evening of Monsters and action, and I would agree on the 4.5/10 of rottentomatoes.

#movie #comedy #action #fantasy