वाइल्ड वाइल्ड वेस्ट

According to all the bad reviews I had read on the Internet, I had to check this movie out for myself. Well, I have a sense of humor and I found this movie to be OK. Indeed, I agree with those Internet critics who gave this movie a favorable review.

Some Internet critics complained about the technological sophistication; but according to more in depth reviews of history I found the tech' portrayals in the movie to be thoroughly accurate. For example, our mechanical knowledge as a society has not dramatically improved since then, and the flying bicycle! Well, the plane "as we know it took form shortly there after. As well, there were no complaints about the gadgetry of the original 'Wild, Wild West'

On the other hand, I do believe some people may have gotten offended by some of the blunt language that people in America used publicly at that time, as well the portrayal of prostitution.

I do think Will Smith gave a more comedic and mature performance in this movie than in 'Men in Black' and 'Enemy of the State.'

I think this movie is, beyond anything, pure entertainment. I don't think for a moment that this is intended to be a historically-accurate archive of what happened during the life of President Truman. I think it was an idea based on something that could have happened, and then explored upon. It's meant to be entertaining with a smidge of accuracy. If I were grading this purely on accuracy or historic factor, I'd grade it lower but I'm grading it as entertainment. Sure there are some cheesy parts, but it's funny, it's silly, it's somewhat kind of historical, and that's good enough for me. It's entertaining.

I like Will Smith and his movies. I enjoyed ENEMY OF THE STATE, INDEPENDENCE DAY and even MEN IN BLACK. So I watched WILD WILD WEST for tradition's sake, I guess you can say. It was 1999's July 4 Will Smith hit. I am positive that this is the worst I have ever seen Will Smith in. I tried to enjoy this movie, and at parts I did, but most of it was lame and not very enjoyable, I'm sorry to say.

Dr. Arliss Loveless, (Kenneth Branagh) a confederate rich bad guy is trying to sell parts of the USA to the highest bidding countries, using his giant machines of destruction (walking mechanicals spiders and stuff) to take hostage of President Ulysses S. Grant (Kevin Kline). The two best agents the U.S. Government has, James West (Will Smith) and Artemus Gordon (also Kevin Kline) are sent to stop Loveless and save the president, as well as the country. West also has a personal score to settle with Loveless, since he was responsible for the death of his parents. The beautiful Rita Escobar (Salma Hayek) tags along to try and save her father, who is also being held hostage by Loveless. She attracts the eye of Gordan and West.

The acting jobs in this are fair, but the writing spoils it. The gorgeous Salma Hayek is underplayed, and her character is pretty much pointless except to have a good-looking girl in the movie. Both Will Smith and Kevin Kline do fairly good jobs acting, but the characters are too boring to enjoy. I'm not sure if Kenneth Branagh or the writing is responsible for the incredible stupid and annoying Dr. Loveless.

This movie is very similar to Men in Black, only less modern and on a smaller scale. (save the country, not the planet) Another big difference between the two was that Men in Black was more fun, cooler, and had better characters, villains and gadgets (not to mention Tommy Lee Jones). If you are in the movie for a Will Smith movie, go rent ENEMY OF THE STATE. If you're in the movie for a lighter Will Smith movie, go rent MEN IN BLACK. I'd try to avoid WILD WILD WEST, but give it a try if you like.

If you don't take it too seriously, Its a fun and entertaining film. I don't understand why people hate it so much!

The fun old TV series becomes a tired series of special-effects scenes. Will Smith tries, but is miscast and utterly unbelievable. (And I'm sorry, but having an African-American as a "top government agent" four years after the end of the Civil War simply cannot be made believable, despite valiant attempts to try.) Kevin Kline, a fine actor, does what he can as Artemus Gordon, but seems to be recapitulating his "In and Out" persona (Ross Martin was never that prissy.) Kenneth Branagh, as the villain, plays it so far over the top you can't even see the top from where he his. Salma Hayek is undeniably lovely, but is wasted (she's basically an afterthought). Special effects are good, plot is stupid, script is awful. As a fan of the old series, I was very disappointed.