Men in Black III (2012) - ***1/2

After endless bad reports about a troubled production (which started without the script having a 3rd act and caused it to be stopped for 6 months w/ budget ballooning reportedly to $300 million) along with the fact that this was a sequel the masses weren't exactly screaming for (the last one was made a decade ago), this actually turned out to be decently entertaining.

That is if you can through the first 15-20 minutes, which start out unpromising with failed gags and jokes movie threatens to be deaf tone forgettable like the second MIB movie was. (Seeing Emma Thompson making unfunny "funny" noises was painful.) Tommy Lee Jones especially looked terrible, a woman at my screening muttered to her date that he looked like he just had a face lift. He also looked bored being in this movie, a pity really.

But once Will Smith goes back to 1969 to save young Jones, played in masterstroke casting by Josh Brolin, the movie starts working. Hell he and Smith have great chemistry, more much than Smith does w/ Jones this time around. There's still a hit/miss ratio with the jokes, but most are funny and the movie clicks like the first MEN IN BLACK did with the black comic cultural satire.

The highlight is the sequence at The Factory with Andy Warhol and all that. (I fully expected a sketch with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, with the punchline being Lennon was an alien beetle.) Some of my favorite gags were plays on the MIB technology, like the devices looked/acted like people back in '69 would consider to be futuristic. I always dig those little steampunk-esque touches when attempted.

The aliens in this one are interesting. The villain has detachable appendages which shoot darts and freely roam away from his body, with googles for eyes which give off this odd vibe. Then there's the alien who can see the future (and all possible variations), and despite one's expectations if you or me had this power, he's always cheerful and happy and obsesses too much on mundane irrelevant details. For some reason, this was a charming touch for me.

MEN IN BLACK III always had this small cloud of disposability surrounding it, but I still enjoyed. I do wonder if I saw this after drivel like BATTLESHIP and DARK SHADOWS influenced me to embrace any subsequent competent entertainment. But if a fourth MEN IN BLACK movie happens, don't bring back Jones. Have him de-age into Brolin or something.

EDIT - You all realize this is Smith's first movie in 4 years? That fact surprised me too. As much as I never cared for his rap career, I'll admit the track he did for the first MEN IN BLACK movie was memorable and catchy pop-rap. ("Men in Black/Guardians of the Galaxy...") Too bad he didn't do a track for this one since the song Pitbull did is fucking garbage. What do people see in that shithead?