WILD WILD WEST (1999)
A Film Review
Copyright Dragan Antulov 2004
One of the most annoying things in modern Hollywood is the way
studio executives pursue Formula with the zeal comparable to
ancient alchemists who had pursued Philosopher's Stone. Their aim
is to find a simple and universal principle that could guarantee
successful blockbusters under all circumstances. They usually do it
by analysing past successes and try to repeat them by re-using some
of the successful movies' ingredients. Actor Will Smith and director
Barry Sonnenfeld were identified as such ingredients in the case of
1997 science fiction comedy MEN IN BLACK. Two years later those
two ingredients didn't produce winning formula in the case of WILD
WILD WEST.
The film, based on the popular 1960s TV show, starts in 1869. James
West (played by Will Smith) and Artemus Gordon (played by Kevin
Kline) are two very different US Secret Service agents. The first is
suave gunslinger while the latter is mild-mannered intellectual and
inventor. President U.S. Grant (also played by Kline) sends them to
solve the mysterious case of missing scientists. West and Gordon
gradually discover that the kidnappings are the work of Arliss
Loveless (played by Kenneth Branagh), legless and megalomaniac
Southern gentleman and inventor of various murderous machines.
Loveless wants to kidnap President Grant and sell US territory to
Britain, France and Spain. West and Gordon must stop and in doing
so they receive help from lovely dancer Rita Escobar (played by
Salma Hayek).
WILD WILD WEST turned out to be one of the worst box office flops
of 1999. There are many reasons for that, but the most obvious one is
the casting of Will Smith as 1860s equivalent of James Bond operating
in post-Civil War America. Audience simply can't accept that such
character in those times could have been black. Anachronisms in
such film could be entertaining, but the scriptwriting committee
made major blunder by adding some references to some serious
events and issues related to Civil War. Atrocious dialogues and
terribly lame humour don't help either.
What helps the film, to a certain extent, is relatively good chemistry
between Smith and Kline. Kline took his role more seriously than
Smith and his mild-mannered Gordon serves as perfect antidote to
over-the-top West. Kenneth Branagh, another great British actor
stuck in the thankless role of a villain, tries very hard to show that he
had fun during the shooting. Salma Hayek is also stuck in thankless
role that would be best remembered for the display of certain
sections of her anatomy.
WILD WILD WEST, just like most summer blockbusters, was
incredibly expensive film and Sonnenfeld shows it during the scenes
that feature giant mechanical tarantula and other futuristic machines.
Those scenes with anachronistic items in Wild West setting aren't that
impressive but at least they serve one useful purpose - they show
that WILD WILD WEST shouldn't be taken seriously. And this is the
only way to make the viewing experience bearable.
RATING: 3/10 (+)
Review written on August 13th 2004
Dragan Antulov a.k.a. Drax
http://film.purger.com - Filmske recenzije na hrvatskom/Movie Reviews in
Croatian
http://www.ofcs.org - Online Film Critics Society
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