Sony Pictures has released a new featurette for its upcoming alien invasion comedy sequel.
Here we have a number of clips from the film, most of which we’ve already seen in the various teasers and trailers, interspersed with some interview clips of each of the primary cast members and director Barry Sonnenfeld.
It’s nice to hear how confident the cast is regarding the arrival of a new actor for K. Frankly, the entrance of Josh Brolin to the franchise is what I’m worried about most for this film, as it’s nearly impossible to replicate a good chemistry with a new actor. So many great franchises and serials have been ruined by changing actors mid-stream, or introducing new ones to an already solid dynamic.
Of course the film will be fun to watch either way. Even if Brolin doesn’t turn out quite right, the gadgets and aliens will still be good, though I already know I’m going to have to turn off my thinking cap while I watch. I love time travel stories, but Men in Black is not a time travel story, it’s an alien invaders story. Introducing the concept of time travel into a franchise which didn’t have it before is risky and almost always prompts savvy audience members to ask: “If you have a time-machine, why don’t you always fix everything with it?” Star Trek, Harry Potter, Supernatural – these are just a few great franchises with huge, gaping plot holes caused by the introduction of time travel to the plot.
Most stories adopt some kind of policy about time travel, and how making changes in the past is a bad idea, and Men in Black will likely be no exception. They’ll come up with some hair-brained explanation of why it’s okay “just this once” – probably that the bad guys changed it first and the good guys are only changing it back – but it still raises lots of questions and plot-holes.
It’s just a action-adventure buddy comedy, however, so turning off my inner nitpicker shouldn’t be too hard.
The theatrical trailer:
The official synopsis of the film:
In Men in Black 3, Agents J (Smith) and K (Jones) are back… in time. J has seen some inexplicable things in his 15 years with the Men in Black, but nothing, not even aliens, perplexes him as much as his wry, reticent partner. But when K’s life and the fate of the planet are put at stake, Agent J will have to travel back in time to put things right. J discovers that there are secrets to the universe that K never told him — secrets that will reveal themselves as he teams up with the young Agent K (Brolin) to save his partner, the agency, and the future of humankind.
Men in Black 3 hits theaters May 25, 2012.
