Liam Neeson has starred in many a hit over the course of his long and celebrated career but, hey, no one can make gold every time and the Irish actor’s been in a fair few stinkers, too. And one of them is surprisingly finding a lot of love on Netflix this week. 2019’s Men in Black: International has managed to sneak into the Top 20 most popular movies list on the streaming giant across the world, occupying the 17th spot on the charts, according to FlixPatrol’s latest stats.
Remember before MiB: International came out and we were all hoping that it would be an exciting relaunch for the sci-fi comedy franchise? Given Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson’s winning chemistry in Thor: Ragnarok, Sony must’ve thought they couldn’t go wrong with entrusting the duo to take over from Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones as the series’ new leads. Unfortunately, however, even Hemsworth and Thompson couldn’t bring this clunker to life.
With those two as protagonists Agents H and M, Neeson co-stars as High T, the head of the MiB’s UK branch. Kumail Nanjiani, Rafe Spall and Rebecca Ferguson also feature, with Emma Thompson reprising her role as Agent O from Men in Black 3, making her the sole link between the earlier films and this one. Straight Outta Compton’s F. Gary Gray directed and while there was a lot of talent involved in the movie, the problems with it all stemmed from its troubled production process, with Gray losing creative control of the project after his original, much edgier, script was thrown out.
With another terrible sci-fi/fantasy pic likewise trending on Netflix this week – Seventh Son, starring Ben Barnes and Jeff Bridges – it’s clear that subscribers are currently in the mood for some undemanding, effects-heavy blockbusters right now. And luckily for them, Netflix has got a fair few in its library. If for some reason you’re tempted to revisit Men in Black: International, however, you should know that it isn’t available in the US at present.
Published: Feb 20, 2021 05:32 pm