Summer 2019 has delivered a number of major blockbusters both good and bad, but the most disappointing is Men In Black: International. The summer movie season is when studios typically release their biggest, most audience-friendly hits of the year, which in 2019 really kicked off with the release of Avengers: Endgame in April.
Disney has unsurprisingly dominated, with Aladdin, Spider-Man: Far From Home, and The Lion King all passing the $1 billion mark, while Avengers: Endgame became the highest-grossing movie ever. Outside of the Mouse House, there's been a mix of solid hits and misfires, from Godzilla: King of the Monsters to X-Men: Dark Phoenix. The latter is arguably one of the worst movies of blockbuster season, alongside smaller releases such as Shaft and The Hustle, but without the weight of any expectation, they weren't disappointments.
Men In Black: International, on the other hand, was. Although the Men In Black franchise had lain dormant since 2012's Men In Black 3, this is a series that should theoretically lend itself to further adventures, since there's already some strong world-building in place for the MIB organization. With F. Gary Gray (The Fate of the Furious) at the helm, there was a director capable of delivering some great action sequences, and a screenplay from Iron Man writers Art Marcum and Matt Holloway suggested witty one-liners and a sharp script that modernized what's come before in a smart, fun way.
That offered some extra promise, but the real draw of Men In Black: International was the reunion of Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson, whose chemistry had proven so winning in 2017's Thor: Ragnarok, and was again (albeit briefly) in Avengers: Endgame. With their great rapport alongside their own individual talents, they should've been able to provide a modern spin on what Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones' MIB Agents had achieved. While it'd be unfair to say anyone expected Men In Black: International to be a masterpiece or the best movie of the summer, the talent involved and previous franchise outings suggested that we'd be in for a funny, entertaining summer blockbuster that would provide some great laughs and thrills as a means of escaping the heat.
Instead, what we got was one of the blandest and most forgettable blockbuster offerings in recent years (there's a reason so many Men In Black: International reviews made neuralyzer jokes). It's not bad; it's just disappointing. Hemsworth and Thompson are game, and they're the reason any of it comes close to working, but even their relationship doesn't soar the way it did in Thor: Ragnarok, and can't come close to Smith/Jones. There are some occasionally solid spots of world-building too, but the plot is dull and even worse are the flat action sequences, which contain none of the pizzaz or humor of ones made over 20 years ago.
Men In Black: International didn't just fail to live up to the original, though, but couldn't stand out in a crowded marketplace. There are worse movies from summer 2019, but at least they're so bad as to be memorable. With Men In Black: International, despite its stars and attempts at crafting a twisty plot and high-octane action, you'll be struggling to remember anything about it after leaving the cinema, and given it could've been so much more, that makes it the most disappointing movie of summer 2019.
Source:gamerant.com