The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

Movies are remembered when they offer something new, like a universe where aliens co-exist with humans, and there is an agency to monitor their behaviour, such as in Men in Black’s first film. But the only new thing that the latest instalment, Men in Black: International offers is a change of cast.

Men in Black: International follows newly recruited Agent M (Tessa Thompson) and her senior agent partner Agent H (Chris Hemsworth) as the pair try to recover a powerful alien weapon that an alien VIP died trying to protect. With all sorts of creatures for them to face, they also have no idea who to trust with a possible mole at MIB.

Seems familiar, doesn’t it?

Well, the plot is a messier version of the first Men in Black film almost to the last detail; important alien killed on earth, check; new agent with another senior superstar agent, check; small concealed item left behind by the dead alien and pursued by bad aliens, check; little creature accompanies the pair and is exceptionally funny and sarcastic, check.

So, what is different?

Other than the messiness of the execution of the plot, the fact that the newly recruited agent is a woman this time is different. However, the film does not spotlight that difference except maybe twice in the movie.

The great thing that the filmmakers did was that they put a man and a woman in a team, he didn’t manly save her life and, guess what, they did not have to fall in love. Isn’t that realistically refreshing?

That was especially impressive since Agent H is supposedly a very attractive ladies’ man in the film, which is acknowledged, but had no effect on a partnership and friendship with agent M.

The dynamic between the two characters was entertaining with bickering and jesting, especially with the added humour and sarcasm from the little creature, named Pawny (Kumail Nanjiani), that the pair acquired along the way. Pawny was the funniest thing about the feature, with obnoxious jokes one after the other; it was mainly his lines through which the humour in the dialogue shined.

For the acting, Chris Hemsworth fits his role very well and is able to pull off the arrogant ladies’ man agent through the action as well as the comedy, even though his fans expected more comedy after seeing him in Thor: Ragnarok. Tessa Thompson’s performance was cheeky but subtle, and perhaps audiences expected to see her newbie character shine a bit more. Playing the head of London’s MIB Headquarters, Agent T, Liam Neeson had a small role that he did with what he always does; look distraught and use his voice for acting. Kumail Nanjiani voice performance as Pawny was one of the best – if not the best – part of the film.

In Men in Black: International you will find a very obvious twist, alien killing action, and a ghost of the first Men in Black film, but you won’t find that spark you got when you watched the first Men in Black.