Wild Wild West Review
by "Nathaniel R. Atcheson" (nate AT pyramid DOT net)July 2nd, 1999
Wild Wild West (1999)
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
Cast: Will Smith, Kevin Kline, Kenneth Branagh, Salma Hayek, M. Emmet Walsh, Ted Levine, Frederique Van Der Wal
Screenplay: Brent Maddock, Jeffrey Price, Peter S. Seaman, S.S. Wilson Producers: Jon Peters, Barry Sonnenfeld
Runtime: 115 min.
US Distribution: Warner Bros.
Rated R: Action violence, sex references
Copyright 1999 Nathaniel R. Atcheson
Just as you might expect from any movie starring Will Smith and released the 4th of July weekend, Barry Sonnenfeld's Wild Wild West will remind you of how much money can be spent on a motion picture. You can feel the dollars that went into this movie. It's one of those ludicrously expensive films that makes you wonder just how much money there really is in the world. It's a massively unrestrained production, bursting with computer-generated special effects in nearly every scene. The film is so obviously overpriced that I couldn't help but consider the various costs of things, such as how much money it takes to digitally remove Kenneth Branagh's legs from every scene he's in.
And boy, I wish I could say I hated every minute of it. The fact is, I enjoyed this silly movie for almost every second I sat watching it, even though the special effects are given more consideration than the characters, even though it's astonishing to think of the financial aspects behind the picture. What makes Wild Wild West a likable disaster of a summer blockbuster is Sonnenfeld's out-of-whack sense of humor, and three goofy performances by three fine actors. It's the textbook definition of a guilty pleasure -- I hated myself for not despising it.
The film is the latest chapter in a long line of Hollywood television series remakes. Will Smith stars as the gun-toting Jim West, assigned by president Ulysses Grant to track down and destroy the renegade General McGrath (Ted Levine). West is teamed up with Artemus Gordon (Kevin Kline), a gadget-happy U.S. Marshal who produces machines that could not possibly have existed at any time in the 1800s. Further developments uncover the fact that the true villain is a legless Suthun'er named Arliss Loveless (Branagh, decked out in a wacky beard and long, jet-black hair). Salma Hayek is also on board as the necessary love interest, the twist being that both heroes are interested in her love.
Wild Wild West suffers from the typical symptoms of Summer Blockbuster Syndrome (SBS), including high-energy incoherence, intrusively overproduced sets and special effects, a distinct lack in true story development, and cartoonish characterizations. Barry Sonnenfeld is one of those directors I can't handle in large doses; he seems to operate in a self-destructive manner, creating scenes and sequences so over-the-top that it's easier to laugh at their sheer absurdity than it is to laugh at the jokes he sprinkles about them. Consider, for instance, the scene in which West and Gordon first witness Loveless' giant mechanical spider. It's an amazing special effect, and really quite extraordinary to witness on screen, but it's such an insane image that I could only wonder what kind of mind would have thought to create it.
If that makes Wild Wild West a bad movie, at least it's an entertaining bad movie. Some critics have stated that Smith and Kline have no chemistry, but I disagree. Both actors have proven themselves as effective comedians in previous films, and they don't botch the job here. Smith has kind of a dumfounded gaze on his face the whole way through the film; this may be from a lack of compelling dialogue, or perhaps he felt despair under the realization that a giant mechanical spider is ultimately going to be more memorable than his performance. Nonetheless, he has an undeniably likable presence. The same goes for Kline, who works with Smith smoothly. Kline is a more experienced comic actor, and it shows -- he manages to get into his role a little better, and actually makes Gordon a semi-credible character.
Branagh is absolutely perfect as the villain, and I think he hits the note that Sonnenfeld was shooting for. His performance is so absurd, so far over the edge of sanity, that it's utterly impossible to take him even the slightest bit seriously (not to mention the fact that your attention will be focused on how they were able to digitally remove his legs). The scenes with Branagh ultimately work the best, and remind us of the intended tone for the rest of the film. There is a brain in Wild Wild West -- it's not a stupid movie -- but it's not a very well-adjusted picture, and often feels like it belongs in the cinematic equivalent of a psychiatric ward.
And then there's the money issue, and the idea that not making this film might have covered food bills for the entire populations of six or seven third-world countries. Even though the production design is very fancy, and even though the special effects have a kind of imposing realism about them, I couldn't help but feel bad for indulging in a film as blatantly overpriced as this one. I mean, we're talking a lot of bucks here. Barry Sonnenfeld has created what might go down as the perfect illustration of a summer blockbuster -- a giant, insane, two-million-bucks-a-minute extravaganza of tongue-in-cheek nonsense, starring Will Smith, coming to a theater near you this 4th of July. Psychosis Rating: 6/10
**********/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\************
Visit FILM PSYCHOSIS at
http://www.pyramid.net/natesmovies
Nathaniel R. Atcheson
**********/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\************
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
