When the West was REALLY Wild

 

 This is my entry in the Legends of Western Cinema Blogathon hosted by Hamlette's Soliloquy.

 

 

In the history of movies and dynamite film stars, few have really ever achieved a status where you could say "The new (Star actor name here) film" and reasonably expect a draw without any more information than that. You could probably put John Wayne on that list. Arnold (of course). Probably a few others, but those are two that come to mind.

In 1999, Will Smith was maybe not quite there, but he was definitely edging into that territory.  A remake of a classic TV western (which originally had a white actor, Robert Conrad, in the Jim West role)?  Hey, why not cast Will Smith in it (even if he wasn't white)?  He'll be a big draw.

After all, hadn't Smith been the THE in two previous summer blockbusters, Independence Day and Men in Black? (BTW, just as a side note, in case you are one of the six or eight people in the world who didn't know: Will Smith turned down The Matrix and did this one instead. Can you see Smith as Neo?)

So how did this movie manage to basically bomb so badly, especially when it's competition at the box office included. at the time, The General's Daughter, one of John Travolta's worst movies (my opinion), Big Daddy (not Adam Sandler's best either) and Summer of Sam ( a movie about the David Berkowitz (Son of Sam) murders in NYC (go figure)?

The problems that stemmed from the movie production were numerous.  One of the main issues seems to be that it deviated too far from it's original inspiration, that too much of the comedy portion was contrived and that the racist aspect of it was too much. (Despite the fact that the main character played by Smith delivered many of the "racist" jokes himself).

The connections to the original TV series are tenuous, at best. Firstly, the villain of the movie, Dr. Arliss Loveless (Kenneth Branagh) is the victim of a tragic event in the Civil War that ended up with half his body amputated. The original inspiration was Dr. Miguelito Loveless (Michael Dunn) was a dwarf.  The joke is lost if you haven't seen the original series, not to mention maybe just a little offensive if you are sensitive to it.

Outside of that, the only real connection to the series is that the main characters were actually named James West and Artemus Gordon (Robert Conrad and Ross Martin in the TV show, respectively, and Will Smith and Kevin Kline in the film).

That, in itself is probably much of what made Wild Wild West get such negative reception. Plus the fact that most of the people intended to be attracted to the movie (kids and young adults who liked Will Smith) were not even born yet when the TV show was broadcast or in syndication.  Basing a movie on a TV show would usually require that the fan base of the original be the primary goal of attraction.(For myself, I was too young to remember if I had even seen an episode in its first run.  I would have only been 8 years old in it's final season.  But I did remember seeing a few episodes in reruns in the early 70's).

In spite of all the negative reviews, I am totally on the side of those that enjoyed the movie.  No surprise there.  I loved Blazing Saddles, too, even though that one has fallen into a black hole of movies considered "offensive".   

As far as westerns go, this movie has the basic tropes found in westerns, including the good guys vs, the bad guys, with, naturally, the good guys coming out on top.  And don't forget the necessary bar fights (which are not necessarily strictly a western trope, but many westerns usually had at least one bar fight...). The addition of the steampunk aspects of the movie put this movie on a teeter totter, because, after all, there were no steam operated giant spiders in the Old West, among other things, but the western aspect is one that comes through even with those weird additions.

 One more final note before the review.  Like his predecessors in the persons of Max Von Sydow (Flash Gordon) and Raul Julia (Street Fighter), Kenneth Branagh spurned the typical fare for an Oscar nominee/winner by taking on the role of the villain in popcorn movie.  And also like Sydow and Julia, he seems to be having the time of his life playing it over the top.

Wild Wild West (1999):

We start off with a guy running through the woods giving a vocal plot drop so we know exactly what to expect.  Wearing a metal collar and being chased by a flying buzz saw, the guy say says (to no one else but himself, thus noted as being a "plot drop"):

"He's a mad man! Must warn the president!  Giant spider!"

 But the flying buzz saw prevents him from accomplishing that. He loses his head over it all.

Now, (after the credits) we get to meet the first of our two stars, Jim West (Will Smith), an agent for the U.S. Army,  hiding out in a water tower with a saloon girl (who thinks she is the reason he is there, but he has a different reason). 

 

 

 West is actually there to witness and stop a delivery of weapons by ex-Confederate soldiers under the command of General "Bloodbath" McGrath (Ted Levine).

 

 

 

Meanwhile in a nearby town, Artemus Gordon (Kevin Kline), a U.S. Marshal, is spying on McGrath while undercover (as a saloon girl, go figure. And you have to see his costume...)  While West tries to stop the delivery, Gordon is trying to seduce McGrath so he can get him alone and find out about the delivery of those same weapons.

 

 

 

The two end up competing against each other and develop an intense dislike of each other.  

 

 

Unfortunately for them, President Ulysses S. Grant (also played by Kline) puts them together as a team to get to the bottom of the issue.  They end up finding out that the mastermind behind the entire affair is Dr. Arliss Loveless , a man thought to be dead, but in actuality still alive (or at least half of him.)

 

 

 

The rest of the film is a give and go as West and Gordon try to corner Loveless and have one setback after another (including being captured by Loveless and being rigged up with the same device that killed the guy in the opening scene).

 

 

 

Eventually they discover Loveless' evil plan.  He has built a giant mechanical spider and also the first known tank, intending to force Grant to cede the United States to him, which he plans to divide up between England, Spain and Mexico. And himself, of course... he's mad, but he's not crazy.

So in the final scenes, we get our hero West battling a few of Loveless' henchmen who have been outfitted with helpful accoutrements.  One is a guy whose hands conceal foot long knives. (bringing up one of my favorite throw away lines when West defeats him with the line "No more Mr. Knife Guy!")

This movie is "bad" on many levels, but the movie as a whole is pretty entertaining if you can get past a few obstacles.  For one, and I agree with a lot of the podcasters I listened to about it over the past week, the hero, Jim West, is entirely unlikable.  He's a jerk to just about everybody, including any potential romantic encounters. Another is the whole racist dialogue which was done thousands of times better in Blazing Saddles. 

But as I stated above, Kenneth Branagh's scenes are very enjoyable, and those steampunk aspects are also pretty cool. If I were to give an award to the movie it would be giving Branagh a Best Supporting Actor award (not an Oscar, just a Quiggy...) and another for Special Effects.

Well, folks time to saddle up and ride off into the sunset.  (yes, I installed a saddle into the driver's seat of the Plymouth just for this episode...)  Drive safely, folks.

Quiggy