3 Short Paragraphs: Men in Black: International

2019, F Gary Gray (Straight Outta Compton) -- download

It might just be me, it probably is me, but I feel we are in the Age of Meh. So many movies are coming out, blockbuster movies from either existing franchises or those interested in becoming a franchise, that are just ... this side of OK. So, not bad, definitely not great, but... *shoulder shrug* non-committal fine. I can once again blame studio or producer interference, but I think its more indicative of the industry, a reflection of putting just enough effort into a movie that creates an acceptable product that, at least, generates just enough revenue. Or washing passion pieces down to taupe acceptability.

MIB: International was supposed to revitalize the franchise: introduce a new female lead, expand the locale to the entire world and expand the scope. No, scratch that last one, the scope of the MIB movies has always been largish "save the world" type. And for the most part, this movie does that. Tessa Thompson's setup is great! She's someone who experienced the MIB as a child but was never mind-wiped, and has spent the rest of her life trying to find them. And then she does. She is not recruited, but she is the most eager, capable and invested agent they have had in a long time. So then, why does the rest of the movie devolve into a retread of the previous movies but in just nicer locations?

There were hints of the originally conceived movie in there, a darker, grainier (refuse to say gritty, cuz, what does that even mean anymore?) flick that went more into the day to day actions of the MIB. This is a great world to explore, and it would have been nice if they had been given the chance to do so. But the stories from the set, with a producer re-writing pages of the script daily and even taking over directing, and the actual director trying to leave the movie, shows that the studio didn't want an interesting movie. That wanted something that would give the perceived sleeping sheepy masses "what they want". They got an acceptable, but unexciting vanilla movie -- don't get me wrong, I love vanilla (flavour folks, not anything else) but if some of the greatest genre hits of late have shown the world anything -- passion and bolder flavours DO make more lucrative movies.