From the opening credits, Men in Black: International feels every bit like the rest of the franchise
- just with better CGI and some fresh faces.
It also makes clever nods to its past, as well as other familiar movies.
Here are a few small details you may have missed!
It's become difficult to separate Chris Hemsworth from the thunder god Thor - the Asgardian
Avenger of Marvel's superhero movies.
With Hemsworth starring as the hammer-swinging hero in three solo films and all four Avengers
installments, it's safe to say there are plenty of moviegoers who might not know who Hemsworth
was if it weren't for his MCU flicks.
It can be a problem when an actor so closely associated with one role stars in something
different, but rather than ignore the proverbial elephant in the room, Men in Black: International
has some clever fun with it.
Towards the end of the film, Agents H and M, and their sidekick Pawny, infiltrate the
fortress of an alien arms dealer.
Agent H gets into a fight with the dealer's super strong bodyguard and he's clearly outmatched.
At one point, H spots a small hammer and grabs it, but H isn't nearly as skilled in hammer-based
combat as Thor...
"Looks like the tables have turned!
That was an incredible catch."
Agent H's brief hammer-related delusion of grandeur isn't the only nod to the MCU.
In a battle against twin alien villains, Agent H bravely steps forward and warns the villains
that they're facing the Men in Black.
Then, he corrects himself...
"The Men and Women in Black."
"Yeah, perfectly done."
The moment works even without the reference, but it's nonetheless a nod to a scene Hemsworth
and Tessa Thompson share in 2017's Thor: Ragnarok.
While Thor is still a slave and is about to be sent into the arena to fight, Thor sees
a tattoo on Thompson's yet-to-be-named character's arm that marks her as one of the Valkyrie,
an elite force of Asgardian warrior women.
Desperately trying to get in her good graces so she'll help him escape, Thor stumbles over
his words before flashing Thompson a similar smile and a thumbs up...
"I think it's great that there is an elite force of women warriors.
It's about time."
In 1997's Men in Black, shortly after Agent J is accepted into MiB, Agent K brings the
new recruit to the armory.
K chooses an impressive Series 4 De-Atomizer for himself while handing J a teeny, tiny
thing that looks like it might be a keychain or a fancy kitchen gadget.
He calls it the "Noisy Cricket" and J is unimpressed.
Of course, J later learns the Noisy Cricket is one of many things in Men in Black that
should not be judged by its outer appearance.
Apparently the Noisy Cricket is still in use, and MiB isn't any better about educating new
agents about it.
Shortly after Agent M is accepted as a probationary agent, we get a montage similar to the one
we see in 1997's Men in Black when Agent J is inducted.
M is given a new wardrobe, sunglasses to protect her from the amnesia-inducing Neuralizers,
and then it's time to choose her weapon.
Agent M lifts the Noisy Cricket daintily out of its case and, looking at the camera, lets
us know there's no way she'll be trusting this dinky little thing with her safety.
Unfortunately, there's no Agent K around to let her know just how much stuff that little
thing can blow up.
If you're worried Men in Black: International is yet another Hollywood reboot, some small
details let you know that isn't the case.
There's Agent O, of course, who first appeared in Men in Black 3.
But there are also some artistic details in the office of Agent High T, the head of the
agency's London branch.
Men in Black: International opens on Agents H and High T, a few years earlier, teaming
up to fight aliens known as the Hive.
The villains are coming to Earth via a portal in Paris' Eiffel Tower.
The prologue cuts away before we see how that scenario ends, but we later hear different
agents speaking of it with great reverence.
We also see a painting meant to represent this victory in Agent High T's office.
But this Paris battle isn't the only immortalized moment.
Blink and you'll miss it, but not far from the Paris painting is one of the more familiar
J and K in the final battle of 1997's Men in Black as they battle the giant bug at the
observation towers of the New York World's Fair.
So while we never learn what happened to J and K, the painting lets us know International
is a continuation of the series rather than a do-over.
Men in Black: International does a good job of paying tribute to the earlier films without
getting too bogged down in the past.
Perfect examples include a pair of cameos from popular aliens we've seen before.
When Molly first bluffs her way into the MiB headquarters, the old man watching the elevator
is accompanied by a pug in a dog bed at his feet.
Once Molly slips into the elevator, the pug says "Talk about amateur hour," and we instantly
recognize the voice of Tim Blaney, the actor who did the voice of Frank the Pug in the
first two Men in Black films.
"I know nothing."
"Not a thing, huh?"
Later, after she's discovered and accepted into the agency, Agent M walks past a group
of short, antennaed, wisecracking aliens instantly recognizable as the same guys that shocked
Agent J when he saw them hanging out in the MiB break room in the first film.
When we meet Agent H, he's involved in an undercover op, posing as a gambler for some
kind of alien card game where players have to reach into a cage holding a poisonous three-headed
snake in order to get their cards.
The game is overseen by an alien crook named Luca Brasi, a pretty blatant reference to
1972's classic mafia epic The Godfather.
In The Godfather, Luca Brasi is strangled to death while trying to infiltrate a rival
gang.
The character was played Lenny Montana, a former professional wrestler as well as a
real-life mob enforcer.
The Corleones learn of Brasi's murder when a package is delivered including fish wrapped
in Brasi's vest, leading to one of the film's most famous lines.
If you caught the reference in Men in Black: International, you probably guessed the fate
of the alien Luca Brasi...
"Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes."
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