Trailer Talk: 'The Three Stooges' – What's Old is … Old Again

They’re back, and they’re more violent than ever.

“The Three Stooges” revisits the slapstick antics of Moe, Larry and Curly for a new generation as if technology didn’t exist to rent, watch or stream classic “Stooges” bits.

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We’ll say this about the film’s first trailer – the actors chosen to ape Moe Howard, Curly Howard and Larry Fine (Chris Diamantopoulos, Will Sasso and Sean Hayes, respectively) do splendid impersonations. But will “Stooges” fans want to see a 90-plus minute recreation? More importantly, will today’s teens break up at the sight of grown men poking each other in the eyes – and elsewhere?

The trailer essentially gives us a Stooges’ greatest hits – and gouges. The pacing is on, for sure, and the sight of those odd little babies on the nuns’ stoop is a riot. But there must be some effort to update the humor and give us a reason to see a 21st century “Stooges” movie. So far, neither is apparent given the trailer.

The film’s creators, the Farrelly brothers, haven’t made a side-splitting comedy since “There’s Something About Mary” back in 1998, so there’s more than just nostalgia riding on a film due to hit theaters this April.

The appearance by Snooki of “Jersey Shore” fame in the clip’s final seconds reveals a willingness to pander that won’t serve anyone well. Don’t movie makers consider how their films will age? Will the next generation have the foggiest notion what a Snooki is?