The stormtroopers’
uniform upgrade was
decidely classy.LANDING IN 1997, Barry Sonnenfeld’s
Men In Black landed amidst the second
wave of UFOlogy. An affectionate wink at
conspiracy paranoia stoked by The X-Files
and early dial-up internet, it proved both
dapper and disarming; funny, with a
sinister edge. But zeitgeist-y as it
undoubtedly was, MIB’s masterstroke lay
with the unexpected chemistry of its
leading men. Will Smith’s wisecracking
Agent J and Tommy Lee Jones’ deadpan
Agent K proved a potent combination.
Alas Smith and Jones, however,
because 22 years on, Agents J and K have
long since passed into legend. In their place
we are presented with Agents M and H,
Tessa Thompson and Chris Hemsworth
reuniting the team from Thor: Ragnarok.
Head Agent O (Emma Thompson) is this
time joined by High T (Liam Neeson),
head of the London office, who tasks the
heroes with... something that hardly
matters. The plot here, served up by Iron
Man screenwriters Art Marcum and Matt
Holloway, is superfluous, existing primarily
to shepherd the duo from one location to
the next as they acquire (then lose) an
experimental piece of alien tech.
But where this MacGuffintron 3000 is
presented as the story’s secret weapon,
Hemsworth and Thompson are
undoubtedly the film’s. Having honed his
comedy chops in Vacation, Ghostbusters
and, most recently, Avengers: Endgame,
Hemsworth is allowed to run riot here,
bouncing off his equally adept co-star in
scenes loosely shot by director F. Gary
Gary to encourage the same easy improv
that worked so well in Ragnarok. Whether
its trading sneery jibes with MIB jobsworth
Agent C (Rafe Spall), or communicating
through a pint-sized intermediary (Kumail
Nanjiani’s sidekick, Pawny), the pair are an
unalloyed delight.
The lack of anything approaching a
consistent straight man lets the film
embrace its dappy humour without
constraint — whether in conversations
with a sentient beard, a title card
announcing “Riza’s Fortified Fortress Of
For Sure Death”, or riffing on the first
film’s arsenal by stripping down a vintage
Jag for plasma-spewing gun parts.
The usual assortment of aliens (MIB’s
chain-smoking worm guys make a brief
cameo) provide background colour but
with Rick Baker’s wild creations now
replaced by bland CGI, few stand out.
Rebecca Ferguson, meanwhile, is
criminally underused as H’s extraterrestrial
ex: a three-armed arms dealer whose brief
appearance in a zebra-striped wig is over
before it’s begun.
Coming seven years after the
humourless MIB3 and blessed with neither
of its stars, Men In Black: International
arrives as possibly the least essential film of
the winter. And yet, despite a throwaway
story and slightly indulgent runtime
(Sonnenfeld never strayed far from the
90-minute mark), H&M prove surprisingly
engaging company. Part soft reboot, part
extended gag reel, this never takes off as a
sci-fi mystery, but thanks to another
appealing central combo, there’s more than
enough goofy fun to save you reaching for
the neuralyzer. JAMES DYERVERDICT Unasked for, unnecessary but
unexpectedly enjoyable.MEN IN BLACK:
INTERNATIONAL
DIRECTOR F. Gary Gray
CAST Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson,
Emma Thompson, Liam Neeson
PLOT Newly recruited Agent M (Tessa
Thompson) is seconded to MIB’s London
office and partnered with swaggering
hotshot Agent H (Chris Hemsworth). But
when an alien VIP is assassinated and a
superweapon stolen, the pair must face the
fact that there’s a mole among the MIB.
OUT NOW
HHH RATED M / 115 MINS
PARASITE
HHHHH
OUT NOW / RATED MA15+ / 132 MINS
DIRECTOR Bong Joon-ho
CAST Song Kang-ho, Lee Sun-kyunACCLAIMED KOREAN DIRECTOR Bong
Joon-ho (Snowpiercer) turns his
attention to issues of class and wealth
in this twisty black comedy. When an
impoverished but ambitious young
man (Choi Woo-shik) is handed a job
tutoring the daughter of a wealthy
family, he soon begins scheming to
replace all their servants with
members of his own family. The
scheme soon spirals out of control and
it isn’t long before the reversals and
bodies start piling up. The easy
shorthand here is “Korean Coen
Brothers”, but that’s something of a
disservice; Bong’s mercilessly moral
tale of greed, privilege, and hypocrisy
is very much its own beast – and a
savage one at that. Unmissable.
TRAVIS JOHNSONLANDMARKTHE KEEPER
HHH
OUT 25 JULY / RATED TBC / 119 MINS
DIRECTOR Marcus H. Rosenmüller
CAST David Kross, Freya Mavor,
John HenshawA GERMAN POW who remained in
England after World War II, Bert
Trautmann, a natural goalkeeper, found
himself playing for Manchester City.
Famously, he broke his neck in the 1956
FA Cup Final but nobody knew, so he
carried on playing. Trautmann’s is one
of those stories that was just begging
for a big screen. Sadly, though, this is
very much a film of two halves. The
first, where Trautmann (David Kross)
falls in love with local girl Margaret (an
excellent Freya Mavor), is winning stuff,
even if attempts to explore
Trautmann’s guilt about his Nazi past
are a tad hamfisted. But the leaden
second, where the football comes to
the fore, reminds us why the beautiful
game has been such a hard nut to
crack. CHRIS HEWITT