“Men in Black: International” (Science-Fiction/Action: 1 hour, 55 minutes)

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson and Liam Neeson

Director: F. Gary Gray

Rated: PG-13 (Violence, language and suggestive material)

 

Movie Review: A standard-issue device for the rank and file members of the fictional organization Men in Black is a neuralyzer. The device emits a bright flash of light that erases the memories of a person for a set period.

If such a contraption existed, producers of this fourth movie in “MIB” franchise should allow audiences to use such a gadget on themselves. That way, moviegoers could forget they saw this. 

Agent H (Hemsworth) and Agent M (Thompson) bounce around the globe tracking down leads as to who assassinated a prominent alien diplomat who gives the agents a powerful machine capable of destroying planets by an individual. 

Along the way, the MIB agents discover powerful aliens (twins Laurent and Larry Bourgeois) who want the extraordinary device, too. Even more, Agent H, Agent M and MIB’s London Bureau director Agent High T (Neeson) believe there is a mole in the ranks of MIB.

“Men in Black: International” has a story similar to the first “Men in Black” (Director Barry Sonnenfeld, 1997). Rather than Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith, Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson are the stars this outing. Hemsworth and Thompson were recently together as Asgardians in Marvel’s currently playing “Avengers: Endgame.”

Jones and Smith were a better pairing, especially for comedic scenes. Hemsworth is too goofy to take seriously in any sense. À la Thor, a scene has him wielding a small hammer for about three seconds. Thompson plays her character intelligently but appears out of place because she is one of the better parts of this photoplay. 

Writers also add a small, trash-talking alien named Pawny voiced by Kumail Nanjiani (“The Big Sick,” 2017). Many of the aliens and props in this movie are cheap gimmicks to cover up a less than stellar plot. These items are present to generate revenue for merchandise such as action figures and other paraphernalia that coincides with the movie.

“Men in Black: International” has many detractions. It consists of goofy humor, and it is executed haphazardly too. Flat and uneven characters are excessive. Additionally, wasteful sub-stories are unnecessary elements. All these concepts exist in an overall wayward plot. They make this fourth addition to franchise less than par compared to its three prequels.

The “MIB” movie series has always been comical science-fiction entertainment. They are diverting cinemas, even this one to a point. They are drollery action sequences with a background of fancy technology and action scenes — all exist here too. Those elements have worked to distract until now. The flaws of “MIB: International” are plentiful.

Grade: D+ (The agency is messy from continent to continent.)

“Shaft” (Action/Comedy: 1 hour, 51 minutes)

Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Jessie T. Usher, Regina Hall and Richard Roundtree

Director: Tim Story

Rated: R (Pervasive language, violence, sexual content, drug material and nudity)

 

Movie Review: John Shaft times three is what moviegoers receive in this movie. 

The men are swell, but unsophisticated redundant quips comprise most of the comedy. The previous Shaft movie starring Samuel Jackson, “Shaft” (2000), was a dramatic action-crime movie. This modern version is a quasi-Blaxploitation comedy, yet it entertains, despite misgivings. 

John “JJ” Shaft III (Usher) is an FBI cybersecurity analyst and a proud graduate of MIT. After his good friend and military veteran Karim Hassan (Avan Jogia) dies suspiciously, JJ enlists his father, John Shaft (Jackson), a private detective. Their case leads them into some dangerous places, where the father-son team eventually needs the assistance of John Shaft Sr. (Roundtree).

Richard Roundtree played the title character starting in 1971 and throughout the 1970s in movies and television. Roundtree returns as the elder Shaft. Jackson continues the role of the main Shaft, except this outing has the movie playing as a comedy. This is sad, considering John Shaft had a serious edge until now.

The comedy is not bad; it garners a few laughs. It just robs the seriousness of the plot. Actors repeat multiple jokes constantly until they lose their flavor. Writers concocted unoriginal one-liners and designed a movie to fit the gags. Tim Story has directed better comedies, such as “Barbershop” (2002).

Still, Jackson provides as expected. No one utters profanity in as poignant a manner as Jackson. The septuagenarian actor has a manner of being entertaining. He shines in any movie, good or bad. Unfortunately, “Shaft” leans towards the latter too often.

Grade: C+ (Three times Shaft is a middling trio.)

“Late Night” (Drama/Comedy: 1 hour, 42 minutes)

Starring: Emma Thompson, Mindy Kaling, Hugh Dancy and John Lithgow

Director: Nisha Ganatra

Rated: R (Profanity and sexual references)

 

Movie Review: When many movies about strong women debut, they can be certainly, unsuitably tragic moments because of an effort to over-masculinize the lead actress’ role while constantly reminding audiences of her femininity. 

“Late Night” avoids that pitfall. 

Audiences observe a woman, masterfully acted by Emma Thompson, imitating men to survive in her field, only to realize that her femininity is her strength. Actress and comedian Mindy Kaling makes that epiphany through superior writing for this dramedy, an appealing mixture of drama and comedy. 

Katherine Newbury (Thompson) is a late-night talk show host. The network for which she works gives Newbury notice she is entering her last season as host of her long-running television show. As Newbury faces her end, her team hires Molly Patel (Kaling), a chemical plant worker turned comedic writer. 

Despite being part of an all-male writing team, Patel makes an impact, getting the attention of Newbury. In a field dominated by men, the women quickly realize being a woman has its own strengths.

At its best, “Late Night” shows that women and men are more similar than we think when it comes to what we want in life. This is a nice expression of Kaling’s writing. She creates a nicely scripted group of characters. She makes them prevalent features while leaving out the trivial mentions of romance usually associated with female-dominated leads. Kaling offers characters one wants to know.

The writer-comedian also makes her characters funny. She has intellectual moments that are a subtle brilliance that charms. Her extensive use of vocabulary is attractive. She poetically uses words to create drama and comedy simultaneously. 

The movie’s one detraction is the male secondary players; portrayals are as bumbling sidekicks or playboys at moments. While avoiding typecasts for women, she stumbles upon a few comedic stereotypes for men.

Kaling’s screenplay works mainly because of the regal elegance of Emma Thompson. The British actress plays Newbury with intellectual liberalism that resonates. She earnestly makes her character an enriching cinematic pleasure. 

She and Kaling’s scenes together are enough to leave one wanting more from these ladies and Director Nisha Ganatra (“Chutney Popcorn,” 1999).

Grade: B+ (It is worthy of a late night watch.)

“The Dead Don’t Die” (Comedy/Horror: 1 hour, 45 minutes)

Starring: Bill Murray, Adam Driver, Chloë Sevigny, Tilda Swinton and Tom Waits

Director: Jim Jarmusch

Rated: R (Violence, gore, profanity and brief nudity)

 

Movie Review: Adam Driver’s character repeats constantly throughout this movie, “This is going to end badly.”

That is correct. It starts gravely and remains that way also.

“The Dead Don’t Die” opens with a new song titled the same. Sturgill Simpson writes it specifically for this film. The song plays throughout the movie as an omen. The first characters audiences see listening to it are Police Chief Cliff Robertson (Murray) and Officer Ronnie Peterson (Driver). Others hear it or find the CD as this screenplay continues. Soon, the dead are unearthing themselves and terrorizing the people of the sleepy small town of Centerville.

The problem is these people do not appear terrorized. 

“The Dead Don’t Die” is a zombie movie but fails to be good in the scary manner that George Romero provided with his zombie movies starting in the 1960s. Instead, director-writer Jim Jarmusch provides some lackluster comedy. The screenplay is laughable, mediocre material.

The greatest pitfall of “The Dead Don’t Die” is it has multiple genre personalities. Think of it as “Pulp Fiction” (1994) meets “Night of the Living Dead” (1968) while not measuring up to either of those movies. Jarmusch could not decide exactly what he wanted this movie to be. Sadly, that is what Jarmusch gets.

Despite a few comical inserts involving modern photoplays and bits regarding the cast, the humor in this pseudo-horror piece is flat. This comedy resides on deadpan humor. Bill Murray is masterful at deadpanning, but others of the cast are not. This is just one more negative element for this comedy. 

Jarmusch appears to make this a political screenplay. He blames fracking for the events happening in this movie: Earth being off its axis, zombies and characters who know they are in a movie. Ludicrous material abounds.

One can take this movie serious in any manner. It plays like a bad middle school play. You want to leave, but you realize your kid is one of the leads in the play. “The Dead Don’t Die” is meant to be funny, farfetched and  whimsical. It scores points there while being subpar elsewhere.

Jim Jarmusch directed some potent screenplays in the past. The notables include “Coffee and Cigarettes” (2003), “Broken Flowers” (2005), which Bill Murray was a part of the cast, and “Paterson” (2016) that starred Adam Driver. “The Dead Don’t Die” should not appear at the top of Jarmusch’s resume.

Grade: D (The dead do not die, but the dead can kill a movie.)

 

Adann-Kennn lives and works in Valdosta.