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July 3, 1999 -- "The Wild Wild West" is a big budget movie that captures a little of the charm of the old television series, but is too bloated for its own good.
The old television series, starred Robert Conrad as the Old West version of James Bond, Jim West, and Ross Martin as Artemis Gordon as his gadget-Loving Sidekick, Sort Of Like "Q" in the James Bond movies. The movie stars Will Smith ("Men in Black") as West and Kevin Kline ("In and Out") as Gordon. Smith certainly has enough swagger to be West and Kline is a fine comic actor, who easily handles the role of Gordon.
What was really missing from the movie was most of the charm of the old show. Part of that missing charm is due to the absence of West's old nemeses Dr. Miguelito Loveless, played by the fine actor Michael Dunn. Another fine actor, Kenneth Brannaugh (or at least half of him), plays the part of Dr. Arliss Loveless (yes, the names are different) in the movie. He's more evil and menacing than the old Loveless and not as charming.
The mass murders orchestrated by Dr. Loveless in the movie are completely out of character with the lighthearted nature of the rest of the film and they really serve no purpose in advancing the story. There are some nice movie and television references along the way. In one scene a dog mimics the old RCA advertisements of "his master's voice." In another scene we see one of the many gadgets in the film blow up a building with the name Kasdan on it, probably a reference to director Lawrence Kasdan ("The Empire Strikes Back").
The dialog in the film also is also witty in spots. In one scene West and Loveless engage in a verbal duel, each insulting the other with artful euphemisms. At times, though, the film seems to run out of ideas and opts for explosions and shootings instead of originality. One of the surest signs of a lack of ideas is men dressing as women for a laugh. It is used so much in this film it gets tiresome.
One expects more from a a film with a $100 million dollar budget. One expects more than great special effects, stunt work and explosions. It would be nice to get better plots more often, but it happens so seldom in Hollywood films. This film had possibilities, but they slipped away. It is not a good film, but it isn't a disaster like last year's "The Avengers," either. It rates a C+.
Click here for links to places to buy this movie in video and/or DVD format, the soundtrack, books, even used videos, games and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.
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