After the somewhat overly cryptic first teaser, this full trailer does a solid job of explaining the premise without overtly spoiling much of the plot. Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones, now 65 years old) is apparently dead due to a ripple in time, and Agent J (Will Smith, now 43 but still looking not a day older than 28, which is how he was when the first Men In Black came out in 1997) must travel in time to the 1960s to discover some world-changing secret that apparently only K knows. The weirdness of the ages is fully accounted for, as the post-title joke openly acknowledges the weirdness of 44-year old Josh Brolin playing a 29-year old Tommy Lee Jones. Kudos to Sony for not revealing much more than that.
It's no secret that this project has perhaps suffered the mother of all development hells, with budgets skyrocketing (at least $215 million, although I've been told it's much higher) and filming suspended for a chunk of time so the script could be tinkered with. Each film's budget has increased 1.5x (Men In Black cost $90 million and Men In Black 2 cost $140 million), meaning a theoretical Men In Black 4 will cost $333 million. But, as someone who never thought either of the Men In Black films were high art (and thinks the Kids WB animated series did a better job of mining the pathos contained within), I have to admit that this looks like a perfectly okay time-killer (Josh Brolin is obviously having a blast mimicking his No Country For Old Men co-star, even if this is apparently the second film where the two of them star without sharing screen time). Will I actively chase a press screening? Nope, especially as I'd prefer to see it in 2D if possible. But if this film being a hit (or at least grossing around what the first two earned) gets Will Smith back to doing more challenging fare like The Pursuit of Happyness, Hancock, or Seven Pounds, then bring on the cynical franchise cash-in that no one asked for! Anyway, this one drops May 25th, or right when Sony is allegedly going to start charging theaters for the Real-D 3D glasses. Which makes this film one to watch for several reasons. As always, we'll see...
Scott Mendelson
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