Critics have started to weigh in on Men In Black: International and it’s not looking good for the new iteration of the long-running franchise, as the majority of them aren’t buying what Sony Pictures is selling, according to its Rotten Tomatoes score. What are they selling exactly? We’ve got a new cast, which is headlined by Chirs Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson, marking a seemingly welcome reunion, as the two had excellent chemistry with one another in Thor: Ragnarok. Unfortunately, that chemistry isn’t enough to save this sequel/reboot in the eyes of many.
The MIB review embargo recently lifted and that means the reviews are being tallied on Rotten Tomatoes. As of this writing, with 69 reviews counted, the movie holds a very poor 32 percent approval rating. That makes it the lowest in the history of the Men In Black franchise, which dates back to 1997. It’s been dormant since MIB 3 was released in 2012 and Sony decided it was time to bring back the Earth’s best defense against the worst scum of the universe. It’s just not going to be the home run they likely hoped it would be.
For the sake of comparison, the original Men In Black, which starred Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, holds a very solid 92 percent rating. Men In Black II was a step in the wrong direction, boasting a 39 percent rating. MIB 3, meanwhile, was somewhere in the middle, with a 68 percent rating. All three of the previous entries were helmed by Barry Sonnenfeld. In this case, it’s Fate of the Furious and Straight Outta Compton director F. Gary Gray behind the camera.
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This doesn’t necessarily spell doom for Men In Black: International just yet. We’ve seen near countless examples of critics and moviegoers not exactly getting along when it comes to a major blockbuster. Venom, for example, currently holds an abysmal 29 percent critical approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Yet, its audience score is 81 percent and the movie went on to gross a truly impressive $855 million at the global box office. On the other side of a similar coin, the recently released Godzilla: King of the Monsters earned just a 40 percent critical rating, but scored much better with its audience score, which currently sits at 84 percent. Though, at the box office, the movie is underperforming a bit, having earned just $298 million so far.
Unfortunately for this movie, it enters a very crowded summer box office lineup that sees The Secret Life of Pets 2 entering its second weekend, with Shaft, Late Night and The Dead Don’t Die also opening against it this weekend. That’s not to say it can’t somehow succeed in spite of the obstacles ahead, but the lack of critical praise isn’t helping matters. Men In Black: International is set to hit theaters on Friday. To dive deeper on the critical response thus far, head on over to Rotten Tomatoes.
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