Wild Wild West (1999)

Review by Bret Walker

While not quite living up to expectations, Wild Wild West, a revamp of the 60's era TV series of the same name, is still a fun romp through the old west as seen through the eyes of Jim West, here played by Will "everything I touch turns to gold" Smith.

Jim West is a US Marshall who is trying to discover and foil the plot of a madman who has been kidnapping all of the great scientific minds in America. To his chagrin, he is teamed up with Artemus Gordon, an inventor who works in what will become the Secret Service. The two personalities are diametrically opposed: while West prefers gunslinging and fist fighting, Artemus prefers the art of using one's mind to solve issues. Consequently, they come to blows several times. However, they are unified in their purpose to uncover the plot of Dr. Arliss Loveless and stop him before he can take over the US and the world.

On the way, they team up with Rita Escobar, who says that her father is one of the kidnapped scientists. As they finally catch up to Dr. Loveless, they discover his plot: to take over the world with a huge mechanized, armored, and heavily armed spider. They find in the end that they must combine their efforts to spoil the fiend's plans.

While this film does not scream off the screen like some of Smith's previous summer films (Men in Black (1997), Independence Day (1996)), it's still a fun film when taken out of the context of the original TV series. While the original series was a lot more fun than conventional westerns, it had none of the fantastic storylines such as this one. The effects were fairly believeable, and true to the action genre, everything in sight was blown up, levelled, burned to the ground, shot up and generally destroyed. Not the greatest summer blockbuster of all time, but at least it didn't fall completely flat.

A lot can be attributed to the fine comedic acting and timing of both Smith and Kevin Klein. They paired up well together, just as Smith did with Tommy Lee Jones in Men in Black. Kenneth Branaugh's impersonation of an evil amputee also lent a lot to the blackness of the film. OK, so Selma Hayek was probably thrown in for the T&A factor, but what the heck? It worked.

The end result is a fun film that doesn't ask to be taken seriously. It's a lighthearted film with a jocular script and a decent storyline that moves well throughout. In other words, it's worth a look even for those skeptics who rained on the Wild Wild West parade last summer.

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