Review of Wild Wild West (1999) by Filipeneto — 15 Feb 2020
Grandiose, showy, but without content.
Inspired by a television series from the Sixties, this steampunk-inspired film tried to work but failed. The script, set in the years after the Civil War, is simple: two special government agents areGrandiose, showy, but without content.
Inspired by a television series from the Sixties, this steampunk-inspired film tried to work but failed.
The script, set in the years after the Civil War, is simple: two special government agents are sent to the Wild West to stop a mad, confederate scientist without legs who wants to overthrow President Ulysses Grant and avenge the southern defeat. Surreal, to say the least. But being a comedy with touches of nonsense, the lack of credibility is not a problem. The most obvious problem is the predictability, the poverty of the dialogues and also the bad direction of Barry Sonnenfeld, a director who has even given us very satisfying comedies like "MIB", "The Addams Family" or "RV". Here was a complete disaster.
Will Smith and Kevin Kline embody the two protagonists, but they never really shone or managed to give soul to the characters they had in hand. I think it is the director's fault, not so much the two actors, who have already proved their worth in other films. Salma Hayek is a good actress, but here she limited herself to using her body and being the hot girl in the film. Kenneth Branagh brought the great villain to life, but he must have bad memories of this film because he was really decadent and seemed to be hating what he was doing.
Technically, the film looks impressive and shows where the budget dollars were spent. A grand soundtrack gives the film an unpleasant feeling of smugness, as if the whole film feels better than what it is. The special effects and CGI are great and the mechanisms created for the film, in the best "steampunk" style, are impressive but leave doubts about their practical effectiveness. Still, grandiose and look good on the screen. Equally well done were the sets, costumes and choice of filming locations, with incredible settings like the Grand Canyon.
Visually, the film is beautiful, it is impressive, but it is like a balloon: it can be big, it can be showy, but it only has air inside.
This review of Wild Wild West (1999) was written by Filipeneto on 15 Feb 2020.
Wild Wild West has generally received mixed reviews.
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