Watch: Josh Brolin Nails His Tommy Lee Jones Impression In First Trailer For 'Men In Black 3'

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by Oliver Lyttelton
December 12, 2011 7:10 AM
13 Comments

Of all the big tentpole pictures of next year, none seems to have had a more troubled production than "Men in Black 3." The first film in the series, in 1997, was an enjoyable sci-fi comedy, but it took five years to get a sequel together, and when "Men In Black 2" hit theaters in 2002, virtually no-one was impressed with an unfunny reprise of the original. Ten years on, Will Smith's picked the franchise to be his return to the screen after an absence of four years, but the film had problems of its own; the project was greenlit with only one act of the sequel complete to take advantage of NYC tax breaks, Will Smith allegedly tinkered with the script, and two more writers, Jeff Nathanson and David Koepp, were brought on to fix things during an extended hiatus, while the budget soared to $215 million, while Alec Baldwin was forced to drop out of a role when shooting didn't restart on time.

Still, the film is finally in the can, and as of this morning, Digital Spy have the first trailer for the film. Is all that money up on the screen? Has the painful birth been worth it, and can Smith, Tommy Lee Jones and Barry Sonnenfeld recapture the charm of the original film?

It's safe to say the verdict so far is... hmmm. The teaser sets up the basic conceit of the film, namely that Agent K (Jones) has been erased from history, killed in 1969, and Agent J (Smith) has to travel back in time and team with they younger K (Josh Brolin) to save him, and the universe. And Brolin's one-line is certainly the highlight, a spookily accurate impression of his older counterpart that suggests he was perfect casting.

But everything else is a little off. The production design is strangely off, and the alien-in-the-graffiti gag isn't a bad one, but Sonnenfeld seems to be shooting everything with lenses that distort Smith is close-up, the jokes mostly fall flat, and there's a certain shot-for-3D quality, including, like Sony's other big 2012 hopeful "The Amazing Spider-Man," a poorly rendered CGI drop through the Manhattan skyline.

It's early days, obviously, but seeing as how the stink of the first sequel hasn't dissipated in the decade since, and the film's troubled production, there's a long way to go before we'll rest easy on this one. Emma Thompson (glimpsed in the trailer), Alice Eve, Jermaine Clement and Michael Stuhlbarg co-star, and the film will hit theaters on May 25th, 2012.

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More: Men In Black 3, Barry Sonnenfeld, Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Emma Thompson

13 Comments

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grace | June 15, 2012 1:10 AMReply

People who write blogs shold have their facts straight. Josh Brolin does the voice of Jones, it is NOT a dub over as you suggest. Why do want to ruin this for everyone? It's a hugely successful film! I just found this blog and am never coming back! Moron!
Jewana Dye | April 9, 2012 2:03 AMReply

Umm, DRDANG I didn't see anything wrong with the way Will Smith looks. I mean, the man is going on 44 years old. You don't see alot of 44 year olds that still look 25...and that IS Josh Brolins voice. He does an excellent impersonation of Tommy Lee Jones. I seen something on T.V. about it.
zen lightning | January 24, 2012 9:49 PMReply

the first one was edgy and dark, aimed to please young adult more so than children; however the second one got a little more cutsie cutsie and less grotesque seeeming with that stupid dog joining the mib's and those little lizard creatures playing twister with rosario. i can only imagine how much more light weight this one will be trying to aim more towards a child audience.
StephenM | December 12, 2011 4:28 PMReply

It doesn't look completely awful, which is what I was expecting based on the disaster stories, but it doesn't look good.
CHASE | December 12, 2011 1:18 PMReply

That is not Brolin's voice dubbed with Jones'. That is CLEARLY Brolin's voice doing an impersonation. Brolin excels in that.

There's no way Brolin's going to act in a movie in which his voice would be dubbed over by another actors. No established and well-respected thespian would allow that.

You can clearly hear his own inflections in his Jones mimic.
caro | December 12, 2011 11:12 AMReply

their trailers always are fun and funny but here it's not
Sog | December 12, 2011 8:21 AMReply

Brolin sounds exactly like Jones because he's been dubbed.
grace | June 15, 2012 1:12 AM

you need to listent o some interviews of how many months it took Brolin of studying Jones' voice and charactar to get this good. It's NOT dubbed!
limitedclown | December 12, 2011 12:47 PM

no no. thats brolins voice. have you not seen him in... anything? ever?
HAROLD | December 12, 2011 8:16 AMReply

Um... judging by its slight off-syncness, I believe Josh Brolin is miming to Tommy Lee Jones' own voice at the end there.
geha714 | December 12, 2011 8:06 AMReply

Looks pretty imcomplete. Brolin looks and sounds perfect as young K.

Hard to decide on this one. The first one holds up pretty good but the sequel is a major disaster.
drdang | December 12, 2011 7:40 AMReply

Is it just me or does Will Smith look horribly hungover / sleep-deprived in this? Jesus.
Kevin | December 12, 2011 7:18 AMReply

Holy shit, this looks worse than I thought. The SFX looks BRUTAL. But then again, this looks like it was made for 9 year olds so whatever.