Being a full-time superhero can be pretty darn time consuming, so much so that it doesn’t leave much time for anything else. Chris Hemsworth has been Thor since 2011, with his latest solo outing Thor: Love and Thunder greatly anticipated for release later this year.

This gives him little time for roles elsewhere, and even then some of them he does he probably should have walked away from. Yes we mean Men in Black: International.

You can see why he chose this sci-fi thriller to do; not only does he break from carrying around that heavy hammer, but it was also entirely shot in his homeland of Australia.

With fans hanging out at airports and roads, this is the only way to travel. Just don't ask to be dropped off in Texas.

Having committed a crime, Jeff (Miles Teller) is sent to prison. But Spiderhead is a prison like no other. It’s a facility run by Steve Abnesti (Hemsworth), a scientist who is conducting a number of experiments with mood altering drugs.

All the prisoners there have an attachment on their backs, which can administer a number of drugs via an app on Steve’s phone. He can make them laugh, horny, paranoid etc, all at the touch of his phone.

Considering how open and agreeable this prison experience is, everyone goes along with it. Jeff does too, initially at least, but when one of the sessions goes too far, he starts to think that maybe everything going on here isn’t what it seems.

Wait, didn't you hear me say that it's not me, it's you?!

There’s something refreshingly original about director Joseph Kosinski’s film, based as it is on a 2010 short story first published in the New Yorker.

It has a curious locale, reminiscent of a Bond villain’s lair, on an island in the middle of nowhere. The idea of being injected with a serum that makes you react in a specific fashion is also interesting. The story itself however, raises a few issues.

First off, we never know who is funding the operation. Secondly, there are a number of these serums that don’t make a lot of sense commercially; G-46 for instance makes the person laugh at whatever is said, which only sounds necessary if you were going to a Jack Whitehall gig. Then there’s B-15 that makes you talk more, being more verbose. Again, seeing where this is likely to make a profit is difficult.

Another jarring element that isn’t made clear is why Hemsworth’s character is also wearing such a device. He appears to be addict to one particular drug, but surely, being the smarty-pants scientist he is, he could have found another way of administering it, like simply injecting it.

It’s a shame that all the dots don’t join up, as both Hemsworth and Teller are good value throughout. Hemsworth handles the ambiguity of his character well, coming across as charming and friendly to all, as well off showing off some rather cool dance moves.

There are also a few surprisingly amusing moments to lift the mood, which the film could have done with a bit more of.

Although it has its moments, with some well-rounded performances to boot, if only there was a serum the writers could have taken to give the narrative more coherence, and make more sense of it all.

Hemsworth doesn’t do a lot wrong here, the script does that for him, but it’s ok as he at least has his job as a superhero to fall back on.