Film review: 'Wild Wild West'
In Warner Bros.' "Wild Wild West", the West isn't so much wild as loud, rudderless and full of misplaced energy. This unwieldy mishmash of highly disparate elements -- it might be described as "Men in Black" meets "Maverick" -- never manages to come together as a satisfying entertainment.
With Will Smith toplining, the film should enjoy an excellent first two weeks. But the ultimate boxoffice response to "Wild Wild West" might be milder than Warner Bros. hopes.
No fewer than six writers are credited, but the movie still careens from one set piece to another without any sense of a story. This discontinuity makes the action seem not so much organic as imposed on the story.
Director Barry Sonnenfeld's previous movies -- "Men in Black", "Get Shorty" and the "Addams Family" films among them -- displayed considerable wit and charm. Each was outlandish in its own way, but one sensed a bemused intelligence behind the shenanigans.
This time out, though, "West"'s overwhelming logistics force Sonnenfeld into the uncomfortable role of traffic cop. The director never appears to get a purchase on the material, settling for lame comedy and rudimentary caricatures to punctuate the action.
In the original 1960s television series, produced back when the Western was still a staple entertainment, its creators introduced the notion of spies into the Old West, spies who fought with futuristic gadgets out of the world of Jules Verne. But with the Western moribund and gadgetry now all the rage, today's filmmakers feel constrained to push the visual effects at the expense of story and characters.
President Ulysses S. Grant teams special government agent James West (Smith), a man of action, with U.S. Marshal Artemus Gordon (Kevin Kline), a man who prefers disguises and inventions. They are asked to foil the greatest threat to the Union in the post-Civil War era: Dr. Arliss Loveless (Kenneth Branagh), a legless former Confederate who has kidnapped several scientific geniuses to help him create monstrous weaponry to overthrow the American government.
Joining in this crusade is Rita Escobar (Salma Hayek), who claims her father is among the purloined scientists. Dr. Loveless' beauteous accomplices include strong woman Amazonia (Frederique Van Der Wal), weapons specialist Munitia (Musetta Vander), Miss Lippenreider (Sofia Eng) -- well, you can figure out what she does -- and Miss East (Bai Ling), assigned to derail Mr. West sexually.
Veteran character actors Ted Levine and M. Emmet Walsh do respective turns as a much mutilated ex-Confederate general named "Bloodbath" McGrath and the conductor of the Wanderer, the gadget-laden luxury train that scoots West and Gordon around the country.
The style throughout the movie is over the top. The film appears to operate on the theory that any quiet or introspective moment would be a waste of time. But even a roller coaster needs to climb gently before it rushes downhill.
Smith gives handsome dash to West by combining just the right amount of swagger with good-natured humor. But the film puts a strain on Kline's considerable comic gifts in saddling him with the wobbly repartee between him and his co-star. Branagh, who once again indulges in the take-no-prisoners acting style he favors when slumming in Hollywood movies, understandably fails to give Loveless the edge a true villain needs.
The women are all treated as little more than sexy upholstery. It is especially troubling to see that fine Chinese actress, Bai Ling, who was so spectacular in "Red Corner", reduced to playing an Oriental seductress.
Technical credits are top-notch, but they swamp the picture. Michael Ballhaus' wild, wild camera angles and the eye-popping visual effects fit more comfortably in a "Star Wars" movie than the Old West. Elmer Bernstein's full-throated orchestral score pounds away in scene after scene to wearying effect.
"Wild Wild West" is this summer's most expensive movie, but the money never bought the most important gadget of them all -- a workable screenplay.
WILD WILD WEST
Warner Bros.
Peters Entertainment/Sonnenfeld-Josephson
Producers: Jon Peters, Barry Sonnenfeld
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
Writers: S.S. Wilson & Brent Maddock, Jeffrey Price & Peter S. Seaman
Story: Jim Thomas & John Thomas
Executive producers: Bill Todman Jr., Joel Simon, Kim LeMasters, Tracy Glaser, Barry Josephson
Director of photography: Michael Ballhaus
Production designer: Bo Welch
Editor: Jim Miller
Music: Elmer Bernstein
Costumes: Deborah Scott
Color/stereo
Cast:
James West: Will Smith
Artemus Gordon/President Grant: Kevin Kline
Dr. Arliss Loveless: Kenneth Branagh
Rita Escobar: Salma Hayek
Coleman: M. Emmet Walsh
General McGrath: Ted Levine
Amazonia: Frederique Van Der Wal
Munitia: Musetta Vander
Miss Lippenreider: Sofia Eng
Miss East: Bai Ling
Running time -- 107 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
With Will Smith toplining, the film should enjoy an excellent first two weeks. But the ultimate boxoffice response to "Wild Wild West" might be milder than Warner Bros. hopes.
No fewer than six writers are credited, but the movie still careens from one set piece to another without any sense of a story. This discontinuity makes the action seem not so much organic as imposed on the story.
Director Barry Sonnenfeld's previous movies -- "Men in Black", "Get Shorty" and the "Addams Family" films among them -- displayed considerable wit and charm. Each was outlandish in its own way, but one sensed a bemused intelligence behind the shenanigans.
This time out, though, "West"'s overwhelming logistics force Sonnenfeld into the uncomfortable role of traffic cop. The director never appears to get a purchase on the material, settling for lame comedy and rudimentary caricatures to punctuate the action.
In the original 1960s television series, produced back when the Western was still a staple entertainment, its creators introduced the notion of spies into the Old West, spies who fought with futuristic gadgets out of the world of Jules Verne. But with the Western moribund and gadgetry now all the rage, today's filmmakers feel constrained to push the visual effects at the expense of story and characters.
President Ulysses S. Grant teams special government agent James West (Smith), a man of action, with U.S. Marshal Artemus Gordon (Kevin Kline), a man who prefers disguises and inventions. They are asked to foil the greatest threat to the Union in the post-Civil War era: Dr. Arliss Loveless (Kenneth Branagh), a legless former Confederate who has kidnapped several scientific geniuses to help him create monstrous weaponry to overthrow the American government.
Joining in this crusade is Rita Escobar (Salma Hayek), who claims her father is among the purloined scientists. Dr. Loveless' beauteous accomplices include strong woman Amazonia (Frederique Van Der Wal), weapons specialist Munitia (Musetta Vander), Miss Lippenreider (Sofia Eng) -- well, you can figure out what she does -- and Miss East (Bai Ling), assigned to derail Mr. West sexually.
Veteran character actors Ted Levine and M. Emmet Walsh do respective turns as a much mutilated ex-Confederate general named "Bloodbath" McGrath and the conductor of the Wanderer, the gadget-laden luxury train that scoots West and Gordon around the country.
The style throughout the movie is over the top. The film appears to operate on the theory that any quiet or introspective moment would be a waste of time. But even a roller coaster needs to climb gently before it rushes downhill.
Smith gives handsome dash to West by combining just the right amount of swagger with good-natured humor. But the film puts a strain on Kline's considerable comic gifts in saddling him with the wobbly repartee between him and his co-star. Branagh, who once again indulges in the take-no-prisoners acting style he favors when slumming in Hollywood movies, understandably fails to give Loveless the edge a true villain needs.
The women are all treated as little more than sexy upholstery. It is especially troubling to see that fine Chinese actress, Bai Ling, who was so spectacular in "Red Corner", reduced to playing an Oriental seductress.
Technical credits are top-notch, but they swamp the picture. Michael Ballhaus' wild, wild camera angles and the eye-popping visual effects fit more comfortably in a "Star Wars" movie than the Old West. Elmer Bernstein's full-throated orchestral score pounds away in scene after scene to wearying effect.
"Wild Wild West" is this summer's most expensive movie, but the money never bought the most important gadget of them all -- a workable screenplay.
WILD WILD WEST
Warner Bros.
Peters Entertainment/Sonnenfeld-Josephson
Producers: Jon Peters, Barry Sonnenfeld
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
Writers: S.S. Wilson & Brent Maddock, Jeffrey Price & Peter S. Seaman
Story: Jim Thomas & John Thomas
Executive producers: Bill Todman Jr., Joel Simon, Kim LeMasters, Tracy Glaser, Barry Josephson
Director of photography: Michael Ballhaus
Production designer: Bo Welch
Editor: Jim Miller
Music: Elmer Bernstein
Costumes: Deborah Scott
Color/stereo
Cast:
James West: Will Smith
Artemus Gordon/President Grant: Kevin Kline
Dr. Arliss Loveless: Kenneth Branagh
Rita Escobar: Salma Hayek
Coleman: M. Emmet Walsh
General McGrath: Ted Levine
Amazonia: Frederique Van Der Wal
Munitia: Musetta Vander
Miss Lippenreider: Sofia Eng
Miss East: Bai Ling
Running time -- 107 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
- 6/30/1999
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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