Wild Wild West

Starring: Will Smith, Kevin Kline, Kenneth Branagh, Salma Hayek, M. Emmet Walsh, Ted Levine, Bai Ling
Directed by: Barry Sonnenfeld
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Western, Action, Comedy
1999

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: Two U.S. Marshals (Will Smith, Kevin Kline) join forces to stop an evil inventor (Kenneth Branagh) from trying to take over the United States.

Review:

Tim: One of the best things about Will Smith is that he's incredibly consistent. He has this amazing ability to pick winners. Look through the list of his films- he just makes solid film after solid film after solid film. That makes this movie so strange- Wild Wild West is the extremely rare misstep from Smith. This is an incredibly weak, stupid film. It is not very enjoyable at all. This is actually the worst movie Smith has ever appeared in.

The whole film is just bad. First off, it ruins the spirit of the original television series. It relies far too much on the crazy inventions, to the point that the whole movie just feels completely ridiculous. The bizarre creations- the giant spider, the flying discs, the flying machine- they all just seemed far too out of place and far-fetched for this film. I just had a hard time buying anything this movie showed us because it wasn't rooted very firmly in reality.

The biggest problem is that you can't take anything serious about this film. I know it's a comedy, but we needed to care about the characters and the situations they went through. The whole film just felt like a complete throwaway. I was never invested in any aspect of this film from beginning to end. That is very, very disappointing.

On paper, James West is a classic Smith character. He's cool, calm, and suave. He is heroic and saves the day. Smith even brings his trademark charisma to the part. And yet, the character just is not very memorable. Smith clearly puts energy into the role, but it just falls flat on screen. Perhaps it's the complete ridiculousness happening all around him, but his performance was only lackluster. He isn't bad exactly, but nothing he does is particularly memorable. Likewise, on paper, pairing Smith with Kevin Kline was probably a brilliant idea- Kline is the cooky, wacky inventor, and could bring an additional dose of comedy to the film. Smith and Kline seems like a great combination, and I do admit that they have some chemistry together. The problem is that the dialogue and the rest of the film causes these two actors to get lost in it. It's almost as if the visual spectacle of the film overshadowed any of the actors. When I think about Kline and Smith together, it seems like a fun, natural pairing. However, in the context of this film, they are only forgettable.

I will say that I loved the casting of Kenneth Branagh as the villain here. Yes, his performance is way too over-the-top, but he brings such antagonistic glee to the role that it's hard not to get caught up in his performance. Branagh is a terrific actor and I loved hearing his Southern accent. While a little more restraint might have helped the overall film, it's just fun to see him bouncing off the walls with energy. He was likely my favorite aspect of the film. Casting Salma Hayek helped the overall look of the film, but she was underutilized. There's really no point to her being in this film besides eye candy, which is never a good thing.

Now, I understand the desire to make this movie stand out from other western comedies. The idea to have all the inventions was the big gun (so to say), but it just doesn't work on screen. I think it's fine to have a few wacky inventions here and there, but the film pushes this to ridiculous lengths. How could Kline invent a flying machine decades before flying machines were actually invented? How could the villain create a massive spider machine, when even today, our top scientists likely couldn't create a similar invention? I know I'm overthinking the movie a bit, but the film's events just seem silly because they aren't rooted in any kind of reality. There was a point where the audience could believe everything on screen, but this movie pushes the boundary so far past it, that the whole experience is ruined. Even having the villain basically transform into a quadraped at the end came across as forced and unbelievable.

All these inventions could have worked more had the story been more compelling. We watch, basically with ambivalence as we hear about the plot to destroy the United States, see President Grant, and jump around from action sequence to action sequence. The whole thing is just absurd, and so we never really care about or take anything in the film seriously. It's just a complete misfire in every sense.

As I said, Will Smith is a remarkably consistent actor. He does not make poor movie choices, which makes Wild Wild West all the more head-scratching. How could a film with so many good pieces in place completely crumble? The answer is that it crumbles under the weight of its own silliness. Yes, the Smith-Kline pairing helps and there's a few entertaining moments throughout the film, but as a whole, Barry Sonenfeld gives us a remarkably disappointing, weak movie. This film always surprises me with how much of its potential is squandered, and how poor the end result is.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 5.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Men in Black, Independence Day