As one of the oldest film companies in Hollywood, Columbia Pictures once held many good cards in their hands. After being acquired by Sony in 1989, it ate up the low-cost comedy/thriller/action movie dividends of the 1990s, as well as the dividends of Spider-Man and Will Smith in the early 21st century.
In the new era of superheroes, Sony/Colombia has become the vanguard of restarts and remakes in an attempt to grab a place in the market. Version after version of Spider-Man, "Total Memories", "Zombies", "Robocop", "Seven Dragons" and "Super Expendables", almost all remakes of volume but quality are in the air, a few Successful cases ("Kung Fu Dream" and "Dragon Tiger Youth Team") have also long since disappeared.
Despite such a short-sighted black history, Sony Columbia has not slowed down its big goal of gnawing on its laurels. This time, the nostalgic card play has changed from a “full restart” of a complete failure to a “soft activation” inspired by “Game of the Brave”-the unreleased “Ghostbusters 3” and “Jedi”. The same is true for "Men 4" and "Charlie Girl", as are the two sequels "Men in Black", which span ten and seven years respectively.
But will the soft restart and soft sequel always succeed? After 2010, Pixar, who went downhill, began to produce sequels of early animated films with great fanfare. "Monsters University", "Finding Nemo 2", "The Incredibles 2", "Cars 3", "Toy Story 3" and "Toy Story 4" were separated from the previous works. In 12/13/14/6/11/9, more than half of them can only be described as unsatisfactory.
And Sony Columbia, which has always lacked standard continuity in blockbuster film production, is able to produce a high-quality sequel, which is tantamount to expecting a miracle. As far as the production policy of "Men in Black: Global Hunt" is concerned, it is obviously the old way of "Game of the Brave": star partners who have sparked (Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson) , Thor Distressed, a medium budget of 100 million US dollars.
But this wishful thinking is bound to fail.
First of all, two stars are calling in one movie, and there is no guarantee that their chemistry will continue in the other movie. Despite Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan ("Night Sleep in Seattle", "Electronic Love Letter"), Keanu Reeves/Sandra Bullock ("Speed of Life and Death", "Untouchable Lovers" ") Such a positive example, the harmonious relationship between the unreliable Thor and the world-weary Valkyrie is based on the common sassy background and arrogance of the two characters. However, in "Men in Black: Global Pursuit", apart from the face-sweeping on the screen, the pair did not produce a really interesting and deep-level interaction.
In the previous work of the series, the interaction between Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones is not only very vivid under the contrast of different personalities, but also in the end the story always corresponds to the emotional release. On the contrary, when Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson faced plain dialogues and scenes, simply selling stupid pretends and spit battles could not turn decadence into magic, and wasted their talents.
On the other hand, director F. Gary Gray, despite having an excellent resume like "Fast and Furious 8", is at a loss for an inspired and witty subject like "Men in Black". Regardless of whether black directors and sci-fi themes are incompatible (Ava Duwayne's "The Wrinkle of Time" and Stefan Bristol's "Meeting Yesterday" are disastrous), "Men in Black: "Global Pursuit" lacks imagination in action scenes and special effects. Most of them rely on CG special effects to make up for cutting corners in the design. The expressiveness is far less effective than the previous work that uses a large number of on-site special effects. On the vital alien creatures, not only failed to climb out of the uncanny valley, but also the design that is similar to other movies—such as the viral twins of The Matrix, such as the tentacle elements that can be seen everywhere—is more imaginative. Lacking.
So much doctrine is, in the final analysis, to make up for the bad script. Most of the works of the screenwriters Matt Holloway and Art Markum are very plain and conventional. If the director and starring role can supplement them, it is naturally good (such as "Iron Man"); but if not, just It is the second "Transformers 5". In the early "Men in Black" movies, the teasing of Spielberg's sci-fi movie and partner comedy buddy comedy is one of the keys to the film's ease and effectiveness. But whether it's a screenwriter or a director, "Men in Black: Global Hunt" is more like a Sony science fiction movie, and has more common genes than "Super Expendables", "Pixel Wars" and "Goosebumps". A "Men in Black" movie with the weird thoughts of Barry Sonnenfeld.
Of course, "Men in Black: Global Pursuit" does not want to abandon the charm of the previous series, but I don't know where to start, and I can't distinguish between frivolous and frivolous, joking and unconformity, and it is facing Sony's other ace series, 007. Imitation is also useless. And because of the common problem of Sony's blockbuster movies, "Men in Black: Global Hunt" is also difficult to decide what kind of movie it wants to be and which audiences it wants to please.
For a movie series, twenty years is enough to turn the tide. "Men in Black", which was born in 1997, is based on urban legends, but the tone is relaxed, the actors are full of charm, and the expensive props are enough to impress a generation of audiences. As the latest work in the series, "Men in Black: Global Wanted" is no longer satisfied with being simple and effective. It blindly enlarges the scale and joins hot topics in society, because of fear of falling behind, it loses its most precious self-characteristics.
This is far more regrettable than the box office loss.
View more about Men in Black: International reviews
