I’ve been around the block with movies for
years, there are many I love, some I hate, others I completely forget about,
and somewhere in-between are the “guilty pleasures”. Movies that I know aren’t
good, but I can’t help but enjoy them on some small level. The 1999 movie “Wild Wild West” for example is one of
my biggest “guilty pleasures” of all time. It’s not a good movie, but I still
enjoy it for one reason or another ... well, mostly for nostalgia. Back then I was
a huge fan of Will Smith and I loved his summer blockbuster movies like “Men in Black” and “Independence Day”. As a kid “Wild
Wild West” was my favorite Will Smith movie that I remember watching the
most.
It was done by the same director and film team that made “Men in Black”, it had that same style,
feel, and sense of witty action hummer, so the two never felt that different
back then. However, over the years “Men
in Black” as only aged better, while I’m noticing more and more of the
problems with “Wild Wild West”. This
movie is widely regarded as one of the worst films to be released from 1999,
and is often seen on lists of worst TV adapted movies, usually taking the #1
spot. On that note, I’ve never seen the original 1965 TV series “The Wild Wild West”, so I can’t
properly compare this film to that show, I can only review it on the grounds of
being a standalone movie. Obviously over the years I’ve noticed how problematic
the film is, why it’s gotten such a negative reputation, but is it all bad, and
can I find maybe some good in it?
Here’s the set up, its 1869, and a former
confederate soldier called Dr. Loveless is threatening President Ulysses S.
Grant, stating that he’ll take over the country with a secret weapon of mass
destruction, which is being built by some of Americas top scientists who had
all been kidnapped by the mad doctor. With the country at stake, the president
assigns two marshals to discover what this mysterious weapon is, destroy it and
rescued the abducted scientists. The first agent is Jim West, a head strong cowboy
who’s had a personal grudge against the evil doctor ever sense his parents were
killed in a massacre that Dr. Loveless himself ordered.
The second agent is Dr.
Artemus Gordon, a man who specializes in creating mechanical inventions and
technology. Both have trouble getting along, but their pressing situation calls
for them to put aside their differences and work together before Dr. Loveless
unleashes his secret weapon on the nation. In short, it’s a very recycled
formula involving two polar opposites who have to unite for the greater good,
but in all fairness, this was actually one of my first films I’d seen to
utilize this concept. The only other movie to utilize this concept before I saw
this film, at least that I can remember was “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”. We also have the lone hero whose out for
revenge against the bad guy responsible for the death of his parents, and I
think we’ve all seen that done before. However, I will give some credit where
it’s due, because I love the way Jim West’s back story is revealed. He doesn’t
say verbally that “this guy killed my parents, and I want him dead”, it’s
actually conveyed very subtly in which we the audience can figure it out on our
own, and I really like that.
The cast is
also really good, and Will Smith has never looked more awesome then he does
here in his cowboy suit. In fact, whenever someone mentions Will Smith, the
first thing that subconsciously comes to mind is him as Jim West. This is also
the first time in which I was able to refer to him by his characters name,
because in any other movie I always refer to him as just Will Smith or “the
Will Smith character”. That’s not to say that his performance is any different
from his other films, but his name is colorful enough to stand out. I also really
like Kevin Kline as his partner Dr. Artemus Gordon. I can’t say that the two
have perfect chemistry as their both working with a relatively weak script, but
for what little they’ve got, their clearly putting their all into it, they have
a lot of energy, and it seems that their having a genuinely fun time acting
together. Obviously Will Smith would go on to say that starring in “Wild Wild West” was the worst decision
he made in his carrier, as he turned down the leading role in “The Matrix” for this film, but I still
think he had a lot of fun while he was making this movie, and it kind of
transcends onto me while I’m watching both him and Kevin Kline in their
prominent roles.
Also, I’d like to comment that when I was a
kid, I watched classic Westerns all the time with my father, and while I liked
them fine, I always wanted to see something High-Tec and cool in this kind of
setting. So “Wild Wild West” was actually the answer to my child hood fantasies, as it took place in a western
setting, but was populated with gadgets, robotic contraptions, and lots of
implausible feats of technology that obviously couldn’t have existed in the
that time period.
However, I do like the look and feel of the technology on
display, there not overly High-Tec and have an old school steam puck look, with
lots of moving gears, and contraptions. A common criticism is that the effects
go way too far, but I honestly disagree. With the exception of the ending, the
gadgets and effects are mostly practical, and on set with the cast. I
will say that more care was obviously put into the effects then a good script,
which is a noticeable problem, but the wildly inventive gizmo's give entertainment value, which for me draw a shield over the numerous flaws. Our hero’s travel on a special
train called “The Wanderer”, and while the set is very good, some of the train’s
booby traps admittedly look very cartoony and silly at times. I do like the
verity in which we see Artemus Gordon’s crazy contraptions, and they lend to some
enjoyable action. The action scenes by the way are mostly good, but nothing out
of the box either.
Let’s finally talk about the absolute best
thing in this movie, and that’s Kenneth Branagh as the villain called Dr.
Loveless. Oh man, no other actor is having more fun chewing the scenery then
him. Kenneth Branagh in general is a very talented and versatile actor, best
known for his Shakespeare adapted movies, but in this movie he’s a lot of fun
to watch as this cartoony evil doctor that’s aiming to take over the nation.
I
honestly find myself forgetting that it’s Kenneth Branagh in the role, the
makeup design is great, and he just doesn’t feel like the same actor that’s so
easily recognizable in other films. It’s a performance that’s deliciously
hammy, with just enough subtle menace thrown in. I also love the design and
concept of this character as he’s one of the few villains that’s actually bound
to a wheel chair due to the loss of both his legs. The special effect on
Kenneth Branagh’s missing legs is actually very convincing, and his steam punk
wheel chair is a memorable design. He also has the added bonus of growing
mechanical legs during a fight, which is another cool touch. Say what you will
about “Wild Wild West” as a bad movie,
but one thing that hasn’t changed for me is the villain Dr. Loveless, who
personally is one of my favorite movie villains from the 90’s. Even his goons
where kind of memorable, there’s a seductive Asian woman called Lady East, and
a Confederate General named Bloodbath McGrath who has a missing ear that was
replaced with a horn.
The only
character I didn’t like in this film was this token female character played by
Salma Hayek, who’s completely pointless. Now, I love Salma Hayek, and have had
something of a crush on her ever sense I first saw her in the movie “Desperado”. Unfortunately, her talents
and beautiful looks are completely wasted in this movie. While I typically love
the token female characters, it’s one of my favorite movie clichés, but even by
token female standards she does so little in this film. In fact, she could have
been removed and it wouldn’t have changed anything. She doesn’t do anything
useful, her relation with the other characters isn’t interesting, she causes
more problems than she solves, and she doesn’t even work as a good damsel in
distress stereotype. There’s a moment when she provides our hero’s with some
information on where the bad guys or going, but an earlier interrogation with
one of the villains could have easily filled them in on that. Also, on a small
side note, Salma Hayek always looked a lot younger and smaller in this film
then she did in earlier movies. For example, look at Salma Hayek in the 1996
movie “From Dusk till Dawn” which came
out 3 years before “Wild Wild West”,
somehow she looks like she aged six years backwards between these films, and
it’s always bugged me.
If your still
reading my review, you’re probably wondering why I’m only “now” bringing up
problems in one of the most hated movies of all time. Well, to be perfectly
honest, I only have one real criticism with this film, but unfortunately, it’s
a really big one. The comedy in this movie ... SUCKS! Right from the start this
film is trying to make the audience laugh, and it fails miserably. As the
movie continues, it’s still under the impression that it’s being really funny,
when in actuality, the jokes are as dry and stale as they get.
The majority of
this films hummer is sexual references and innuendos aimed at the mail and
female anatomy. I’d call it a nit-pick, but it’s a consistent problem that
lasts all throughout the movie, and it just gives this film an uneven tone, and
all around stupid feel. Every single inappropriate joke imaginable is made,
from exposed body parts, to puns revolving around Cowboys and their “Guns”, it
just goes on, and on, and it gets to the point of insult. There’s a running
joke involving our hero’s dressing up as woman, which is by far the stupidest
thing in the film. What’s worse is that these scenes are not short, they drag
on and bring the film to a screeching halt every time. It’s bad enough seeing
both Will Smith and Kevin Kline in female attire, but what really puts the salt
on the wound is everyone's reaction to them, that grown men are convinced their
actually woman, and attractive ... it’s about as stupid as it gets. To be fair,
there is a hand full of funny moments, and even some enjoyable one liners that
keep the film from being completely laugh free.
Other criticisms are aimed at the films bombastic, manic and over the top tone, but honestly,
this didn’t bother me as much. I just know I’ve seen movies that are a lot more
exhausting and over the top then this film, like the “Transformers”, “Pacific Rim”
and “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies.
Heck, at least “Wild Wild West” has
a good run time that’s under 2 hours, unlike the recent “Lone Ranger” movie that was over 3 hours.
Now that’s not to say
that “Wild Wild West” isn’t over the
top either, it certainly is, especially in the third act, but I have to admit, I
actually think it’s a really fun ending. Dr. Loveless finally reveals what his
secret weapon is, and ... it’s a giant, fire breathing, missal shooting, robot
spider! Okay, I don’t care what the critics say, I don’t care if this thing
looks like it came right out of “Star
Wars”, I love this giant spider, and the long, drawn out climax is also a
lot of fun.
We have a giant robot spider trampling through an old western town,
blowing the crap out of everything, our hero’s launch an assault while flying
on this old-school wing glider-bike, and it honestly makes me feel like a kid
again. They crash into the Spider, and our hero’s find themselves trapped in
the belly of the beast where Jim West battles various fun cartoony bad guys
including a guy with knives for hands, a metal headed android, and it all builds
to a final showdown between West and Dr. Loveless, which is short but satisfying.
Oh wait, I still
have one more positive to highlight, and that would be the music. The instrumental
score composed by the great Elmer Bernstein is actually really good. It
captures the same spirit of classic adventure hero scores like John Williams “Indiana Jones” score, while still being
its own thing. It’s also utilized very well in honestly one of my favorite
opening credit sequences I’ve ever seen. Seriously, I think the opening credit
sequence to “Wild Wild West” is on
par with any classic James Bond
opening. I just love the whole art style, the different colors, and film
footage.
It shows you who the characters are, the different vehicles, weapons, and
it’s just a really fun opening. Also some of the actual songs from the film are
fairly good too. The song “Bailamos”
by Enriqu Iglesias is still very upbeat, and memorable. Actually, I worked at a
sports authority store for years, which had a selection of repetitive songs
that got really annoying to listen too, but the song “Bailamos” was one of the very few that I enjoyed hearing regularly.
Of course there’s the song “Wild Wild
West” performed by Will Smith himself. The song itself is decent, but the
highlight is the music video that went along with it. The sets, the costumes,
the visuals and some well placed cameo’s from artists like Steve Wonder and
Carlton from “The Fresh Prince of Bel
Air”, makes the video a real treat to watch. It also plays like a semi
sequel to the film as we watch Jim West go on an action packed adventure to
rescue Salma Hayek from the sinister Dr. Loveless. It’s awesome stuff,
there’s gatling guns going off, a pretty damsel in a death trap strait out of a
“Saw” movie, hero’s jumping through
glass, and it’s actually more epic then the movie itself.
So, would I call “Wild Wild West” a good movie ... NO! This
isn’t a film I’d recommend to anyone really, because it is stupid, it is over
the top, it does have some really bad comedy, and a stale script. However,
while the film is clearly bad, I certainly don’t hate it. It had some fun adventure
moments, an exciting finale, a cool Western setting with gadgets, and an
enjoyable cast of scenery chewing actors. This is a film I loved when I was
younger, so it’s got some nostalgia value, and it still has some things that I enjoy,
but as I’ve grown up, it’s lost most of its novelty, and isn’t that
re-watchable. Can’t make any argument against the films poor reception, but I really
don’t think it’s one of the worst things ever made. Fans of the show should
just stick with the show. Even though I haven’t watched it, I’m pretty sure this
film is a pore representation of its respected source material. Definitely
better movies out there that I’d recommend people watch instead, but to this day,
it still remains a “guilty pleasure” of mine.
Thanks for reading my review of the 1999 picture “Wild Wild West” ... and continue to enjoy the movies you Love!
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