I gave this movie a 5/10.
I waited years to watch it expecting an absolute dumpster fire but it wasn't.
There were a few good parts and cool CGI for the year. US Grant(president) had some great lines.
When Will Smith was talking about his parents getting killed.... OMG the acting was horrible. It really made me wonder how he ever made it as a movie star, but he did. LOL.
Congrats, Will.
Overall, not bad.
There are indeed many worse films than this that had theatrical releases, like Boat Trip and Leonard Part 6 to name just two.
To me Wild Wild West is an example of a film that puts style over substance. There's enough happening that it isn't boring, but I never felt I was watching a good movie. It simply isn't funny enough, nor is the plot interesting enough. You just get the impression you're watching famous actors act silly around expensive set designs and CGI.
I do think Will Smith can put in a fine performance, such as in Enemy of the State, but it definitely seems like those behind this film simply wanted Will Smith to portray his Fresh Prince of Bel-Air self transported back over a hundred years. The scene where he's telling a dying McGrath about the massacre of his parents and other freed slaves certainly isn't an Oscar-worthy performance, but I can't really blame it given how ridiculous everything in this film is. It just comes across as a lazy way of clarifying the plot.
Overall, it's watchable but considerably less so if you are a fan of the original series. The betrayal here is that the original was not a comedy. The original was light but it functioned more like Die Hard. The humor is there but the whole thing is actually a serious, if wildly improbable, adventure.
share"The betrayal here is that the original was not a comedy." That and no one connected with the film ever watched and/or understood the show.
West and Gordon were not rivals (except for the ladies, even then the rivalry was friendly ) and not competitors. They were great friends and their talents complemented each other's.
Loveless wasn't a madman who wanted to avenge the South and hated James West. Loveless was a charming, erudite man who wanted to conquer the world and had a man-crush on West. West stood in Loveless's way and must die. Loveless would be sad about killing West, but what else could he do?
That is a more interesting concept than the film's.
You are right. Just spend a little time and you find more things about the film to despise. I saw it once and that was enough.
shareSadly, I watched it twice. The second time because I thought "It can't be as bad as I remember." It was.
shareY'know what's really sad? Even the Elmer Bernstein score is not very good. I love Bernstein and figured that he might have written something better than I remembered (He wrote a helluva score for Saturn 3)... Well, at least there's a multi disc collection of the music from the series.
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