Everyone's favorite gizmo from the "Men in Black" movies is the small penlight known as the neuralyzer. Flash it at a crowd of people and they'll forget everything they just saw. Use a little hypnotic suggestion, and you can even fill in the giant holes in their memories.
Walking out of "Men in Black: International," I almost wondered if the film had used a neuralyzer on me. It's not the strongest film in the franchise, nor does it come with many new ideas. It certainly has a few moments of meh. Nevertheless, I felt certain I had just seen a smart, enjoyable, well-crafted piece of summer entertainment.
Here's what I can say with certainty: "Men in Black: International" builds on the now-familiar world, first established in 1997 by Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, in which secret agents use advanced technology to monitor space aliens and keep the public in the dark. It adds two fresh faces: Tessa Thompson ("Dear White People") and Chris Hemsworth ("Thor"). Together, they create a pleasurable chemistry that keeps this spinoff afloat and, every now and then, makes it really sing.
