SUITED AND REBOOTED
“The good guys dress in black — remember that.” The immortal rap of the original Men In Black tie-in single is hard to forget — but times have changed since 1997. In Men In Black: International, the Men In Black are not always men (there are now women leading the charge in the field too); they’re not always dressed in black (regulation uniform is sometimes ditched in favour of more summery fashions); and they’re not always even good (there is a mole among the MIB ranks, and it’s up to our heroes to root him, her or it out).
The original 1997 film, based on a little-read Marvel (then Aircel) comic, juggled a curious alchemy of tones and genres, with a crackling Will Smith/ Tommy Lee Jones double act to whip up a surprise hit; two sequels followed, with less success. Men In Black: International is not a sequel — there’s no Will Smith tie-in single here — and Barry Sonnenfeld, director of the first three films, has stepped aside for Fast 8’s F. Gary Gray. “It’s just about striking that quite specific balance,” says Gray, “between sci-fi, thriller, comedy, all of those things. It’s challenging.”
New cast, new director, new energy, new challenges — and in among all the science-fiction whizzbangery, there’s still a pressing demand for some down-to-earth human chemistry. “These movies have to have
