Tag: Will Smith

Men in Black: International Review (No Spoilers)

Men in Black: International is a quasi-reboot of the beloved Will Smith-Tommy Lee Jones space cops franchise from the ’90s. This new, globe-trotting adventure stars Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, Liam Neeson, Emma Thompson. Despite the lackluster trailers, I was kinda looking forward to this film. For starters, Hemsworth and (Tessa) Thompson had wonderful chemistry in Thor: Ragnarok and Endgame! Second, a movie like this, dealing with immigration issues today, could have made this film more relevant and elevated it from becoming just another MiB flick.

Positives

Even though they were a lot better in Ragnarok, Tessa Thompson, and Chris Hemsworth have great chemistry nonetheless. If it weren’t for these 2 leads at the helm, this movie would surely not work. They have delightful back-and-forths and the movie absolutely shines when it lets the duo interact with each other. Even though most of the lines aren’t funny per-say, it’s their delivery that makes it work. In addition, the little, Alita-eyed, samurai alien creature, Pawny (voiced by Kumail Nanjiani) gets the best jokes and is a nice addition.

In terms of humor, this film is a sort of half-and-half. When the movie lets Hemsworth, Thompson, and Nanjiani (Pawny) interact with each other, I genuinely had a good time. But I will say, the references to Hemsworth’s Marvel role, Thor, wielding a hammer made me crack up!

The performances are solid throughout. Even though most of the character arcs are non-existent, the actors do the best with what they have to work with.

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Negatives

Rather than bringing something unique to the table, this film is more or less in the vein of the last 3 but, worse. Hemsworth’s character, agent H, is constantly proclaimed to be one of the best in the organization but that is the opposite of what is actually presented. Throughout the movie, he is messing around, cracking jokes, and frankly incompetent. Albeit a nitpick, Thompson’s character discovering the secret base by putting a hand through the fence is nonsensical.

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It’s hard to imagine that no one’s ever discovered that before. But, I digress. The villains, teased in the trailers, don’t have much to do and their phasing abilities are all they have. And of course, as you’d expect in a MiB movie, there are twists and turns but seriously, they are extremely predictable.

Despite having the likes of Hemsworth and Thompson at the helm, and aliens, this movie had me bored for a good amount of time. About 10-15 minutes could have been cut out, which would have improved the pacing. The plot also gets quite convoluted, once the big reveal happens. Also, what was the point of Rebecca Ferguson’s character? Her character serves absolutely no purpose but simply ends up taking a huge chunk of screen-time.

Rating

It seems like Men in Black: International joins the recent trend of critically-panned yet semi-enjoyable films (Godzilla 2 and Dark Phoenix). Despite 2 charismatic leads and solid performances, this new incarnation of the iconic Men in Black franchise has a messy story, poor characters, questionable directing choices and an unnecessarily lengthy runtime. 2.5/5

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Aladdin Review (No Spoilers)

After huge successes with the Jungle Book (2016), Maleficient (2014), Beauty and the Beast (2016), Disney is going all-in with their live-action adaptations. This year alone, the studio is releasing/has released 3 “live-action” adaptations – Dumbo and Aladdin, and The Lion King (photo-realistic animation but animated nonetheless).

Positives

Going into the movie, many people were skeptical of Will Smith’s casting as the Genie, seeing as the late Robin Wiliams portrayal is still so vivid in moviegoers’ minds. However, I am happy to report that Smith is great as the genie; In fact, he’s the best part of the film. He brings his usual charm and charisma, and a dose of much-needed energy. As for the look of the character, which I generally don’t care about anyways, he looks fine. Of course, some will complain, but you can’t please everybody.

Speaking of the titular character, the newcomer Mena Massoud does a fine job as Aladdin. He captures the awkward yet charming essence of the character well but especially shines during the comedic scenes. The insanely gorgeous and talented Naomi Scott plays Princess Jasmine and arguably gives the best performance in the film. Unlike her animated counterpart, Jasmine wishes to be the ‘Sultan’ and is unwilling to let others tell her what to do. Massoud and Scott both have good chemistry and adorable back-and-forth, especially during the film’s “parkour” sequence in the beginning. However, it’s the palpable chemistry between Massoud and Smith that truly elevates this film from being generic to enjoyable.

As for the songs, most of them are from the original animated flick but there are a couple of new additions. My favorite song from this live-action adaptation is Speechless. Even though its placing is a little questionable, it’s a beautiful female empowerment song that I have listened to so many times already! Fun fact – Naomi Scott actually sang that song herself.

Negatives

Unlike the animated film which had a runtime of around 1:30, this live-action reincarnation has a runtime of over 2 hours. However, the movie could have done without 10-15 minutes because after a while, I really started to “feel” the runtime. In addition, some of the performances are quite mediocre, especially from Marwan Kenzari’s Jafar. Not only is the villainous character unmemorable, Kenzari’s performance often isn’t on the same tempo as the other actors.

Despite a huge budget of $180 million, the CGI is poor throughout the movie. First of all, the city never really feels lived-in. It’s totally clean, devoid of any verisimilitude. In addition, whenever the characters are interacting with each other, with the city in the background, it is quite evident that it was shot in front of a green screen.

My biggest problem, however, is to question the reason for making this film, besides the financial incentive. It’s basically a live-action adaptation of a beloved animated film, with fewer memorable additions. It’s hard to tell whether people that like this incarnation like it because it’s so faithful to the animated movie (nostalgia) or because they genuinely like this film.

Rating

Even though the live-action adaptation of Aladdin is better than I thought it would be, it’s still pretty unnecessary with poor CGI, underdeveloped villain, and a longer-than-needed runtime. However, Will Smith’s performance as the Genie and Mena Massoud’s chemistry with Smith and Scott makes this a semi-enjoyable flick. 3/5.

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