‘Men in Black 3’ opens wide: Will Smith rappin’, not slappin’

Will Smith, star of “Men in Black 3,” which opens wide today, can rap even better than he can slap.

His recent backhanded smack of a reporter -- a TV personality who tries to out-Borat Borat -- was a sight to behold, but Smith’s PR folks would rather put that all behind him. Ix-nay on the ap-slay, a publicist told reporters at the New York premiere of the film Wednesday, according to EW.com.

Smith has been focusing on the rapping, not the slapping. He’s now rapped at at least two premieres of his new movie. He improvised, rather impressively, for cameras in Leicester Square at the May 17 premiere of the film in London.

Then on Wednesday night, he rapped at the New York premiere, along with his old partner DJ Jazzy Jeff. Smith’s son Jaden was even onstage at one point, as shown on Twitter. The premiere was reportedly a high-spirited affair, and good wishes and happy feelings flowed.

There was a palpable sense of relief, Entertainment Weekly reported. And good reason for it too. It’s widely known that the movie’s development was fraught. Expectations were high -- this movie had to be good to wash away the bad taste from that second sequel.

It looks like director Barry Sonnenfeld has largely succeeded. Positive reviews of the film have been pinging around the Internet.

The Times’ Betsy Sharkey says “MIB: 3” “has recovered some of the brashness and all of the unbridled affection for the weird, wonky otherworldly types that made the initial 1997 cosmic comedy such a kick.”

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