It's a whole new west.
1999-06-30
$170.0M
106 min
Legless Southern inventor Dr. Arliss Loveless plans to rekindle the Civil War by assassinating President U.S. Grant. Only two men can stop him: gunfighter James West and master-of-disguise and inventor Artemus Gordon. The two must team up to thwart Loveless' plans.
Steampunk Blockbusterdom!
Barry Sonnenfeld's Wild Wild West is a film that I have avoided for over 15 years. I have no frame of reference with the source materials, but even though I'm a big Westerns fan, it wasn't this, or the critical pounding it got on release, that kept me away. It was the original trailers for it, it just looked like a garbled over budgeted mess - which it kinda is.
However, that's not to say there isn't fun to be had, because for all its many failings (poor effects, poor script, waste of a strong cast, superficiality), there is some verve and swagger, excitement, Will Smith's likability and some splendid gadgets. Having very low expectations no doubt helped me out, but I would hardly call this a 1/10 type of film. I say chill out with a beer, turn the home cinema speakers up and just roll with it, because thinking about it too deeply could possibly make you angry... 5/10
I felt entertained by this.
It is a very bonkers film, though it actually works stupidly well in my opinion - the steampunk theme helps it of course. Will Smith and Kevin Kline are a good pairing as West and Gordon. Kenneth Branagh (Arliss) is amusing, I rate his character's design too.
I will say the effects around Smith and Kline haven't aged gracefully, but for everything else around them it still looks quite nice. I enjoyed the train shenanigans in particular. Salma Hayek (Rita) is kinda pointless in this, she's basically just there for gratuitous sexual reasons.
The film does also try to cram in an (obviously positive) message regarding racists and the such, which doesn't really fit and isn't as developed as could've been. <em>'Wild Wild West'</em> is at its best when it's being amusing.
A brainless watch. I'd, personally, recommend it - though a lot of people would evidently disagree with me.
