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Wild Wild West
USA 1999
Reviewed by Andrew O'Hehir
Synopsis
Our synopses give away the plot in full, including surprise twists.
The American West, 1869. James West, a black US army special officer, is pursuing a former Confederate general named McGrath, whom he believes is stockpiling weapons and kidnapping scientists. West encounters Artemus Gordon, a US marshal who is also after McGrath. When McGrath escapes to New Orleans, West and Gordon return to Washington, where President Ulysses S. Grant orders them to work together.
In New Orleans, the duo learn that the real mastermind behind McGrath is Dr Arliss Loveless, an evil genius who was crippled fighting for the South in the Civil War and who still hopes to bring down the US government. During the war, Loveless built a tank that massacred many people in an Illinois town of freed slaves, including West's family. After testing his new weapon by killing McGrath and his men, Loveless flees west, planning to capture Grant in Utah. Loveless is pursued by West, Gordon and a beautiful woman named Rita, who says her father is one of the kidnapped scientists. West and Gordon are twice captured by Loveless, and must work together to escape and do battle with flying steel discs, robots and a mechanical spider. Finally, they defeat Loveless, thwarting his plan to divide the US between Britain, Spain, Mexico and himself. Rita is reunited with the missing scientist, actually her husband. President Grant names West and Gordon the first two agents in the US Secret Service
Review
Crammed full of outrageous visual effects and the careening camerawork that has made Barry Sonnenfeld justly famous, Wild Wild West gets by on sheer style, as well as the irrepressible likeability of its star Will Smith. But it's reasonable to ask why a film that exists solely to have fun should seem so laboured. Counting the story and screenplay credits, six writers have their names attached to this film. None of them, apparently, could improve on the embarrassing faux-homoerotic banter between West and Gordon, or the even more witless exchanges of insults between West and the legless Loveless ("It's a dark day," drawls the latter; "Well, I'm stumped," sneers the former). As is typical of Sonnenfeld's films, the best jokes are visual, and even then there's often no point to them. When a pup approaches the dead McGrath's ear trumpet and strikes the familiar 'His Master's Voice' pose, it only makes you feel that the director is bored.
Smith breezes through the film with customary aplomb. Nonetheless, the role and Smith's casting are something of a missed opportunity. Wild Wild West never tries to explain how a black man has become a prominent federal agent less than four years after the abolition of slavery. West recounts the story of his own flight from bondage with the air of a man reading aloud a tiresome history lesson. While Sonnenfeld and his numerous screenwriters aren't obliged to be instructive, they evidently don't give a damn about the character's plausibility or motivation - even when these seem potentially so powerful - and it doesn't occur to them that the audience might.
Kevin Kline's fussy, unfocused performance as Gordon is still more disappointing. Although he's a talented actor, Kline is not the natural physical comedian a chaotic spectacle like this demands. (He's far better in his secondary role as the gruff President Grant.) At least Kenneth Branagh, with his outlandish Blanche DuBois accent and his elaborate moustache, seems to enjoy himself as the preening, scene-hogging Loveless and understand that any efforts at subtlety would be wasted. Salma Hayek certainly has the proportions for the bustier she wears in most of her scenes, and that's just as well, since the screenwriters give Rita no better reason for being in the movie.
But then, all this highfalutin talk about writing and acting is beside the point. For the most part, Sonnenfeld and his production team have translated the quirky, Jules Verne sci-fi aesthetic of the 1965-68 US television series to the big screen with smashing success. From the green-and-gold wallpaper of a New Orleans mansion to the gorgeous wrought-iron railings on the bridge of Loveless' enormous steam-driven spider, all the wit and verve missing from the screenplay are present in Bo Welch's opulent production design. Sonnenfeld can now be relied on for imaginative credit sequences (this one's a mix of Sergio Leone and the early Bond films) and crowd-pleasing, gizmo-driven action climaxes. These qualities have made him one of the most successful Hollywood film-makers of the 90s. But in a sense his roots are still showing. As he gets further away from his apprentice years as the Coen brothers' cinematographer, it's increasingly clear that Sonnenfeld shares their fascination with technique and genre, but has none of their genius for characterisation and little interest in human beings except as design elements.
Credits
- Producers
- Jon Peters
- Barry Sonnenfeld
- Screenplay
- S.S. Wilson
- Brent Maddock
- Jeffrey Price
- Peter S. Seaman
- Story
- Jim Thomas
- John Thomas
- Director of Photography
- Michael Ballhaus
- Editor
- Jim Miller
- Production Designer
- Bo Welch
- Music
- Elmer Bernstein
- ©Warner Bros.
- Production Companies
- Warner Bros. presents
- a Peters Entertainment/
Sonnenfeld-Josephson production in association with Todman, Simon, LeMasters Productions - Executive Producers
- Bill Todman Jr
- Joel Simon
- Kim LeMasters
- Tracy Glaser
- Barry Josephson
- Co-producers
- Graham Place
- Doug Lodato
- Associate Producers
- Neri Kyle Tannenbaum
- Chris Soldo
- Production Associate
- Brian Manis
- Production Co-ordinator
- Daren Hicks
- Unit Production Managers
- Graham Place
- 2nd Unit:
- Gabriela Vazquez
- Location Managers
- Robbie Goldstein
- David Kaufman
- Post-production Supervisor
- Russ Kavanaugh
- 2nd Unit Directors
- Terry Leonard
- Eric Brevig
- Assistant Directors
- Chris Soldo
- David Venghaus
- Eric Tignini
- Katie Carroll
- 2nd Unit:
- Douglas S. Ornstein
- George Bamber
- Donald Murphy
- David Hyman
- Dodi Rubenstein
- Script Supervisors
- Mary Bailey
- 2nd Unit:
- Patience Thoreson
- Casting
- David Rubin
- Ronna Kress
- 2nd Unit Directors of Photography
- Bill Pope
- David Dunlap
- Raymond Stella
- Chuck Shuman
- Director of Aerial Photography
- David Nowell
- Camera Operators
- Daniel Gold
- Stephen St. John
- 2nd Unit:
- Tony Gaudioz
- Mitchell Amundsen
- Greg Smith
- Steadicam Operator
- Stephen St. John
- Visual Effects
- Supervisor:
- Eric Brevig
- Producers:
- Karen Murphy
- Jacqueline Lopez
- Special Visual Effects
- Industrial Light & Magic
- Animation Supervisor:
- Danny Gordon Taylor
- Visual Effects Associate Supervisor:
- Pablo Helman
- Visual Effects Co-supervisor:
- Edward Hirsch
- Visual Effects Associate Producer:
- Vicki Engel
- Visual Effects Art Director:
- Alex Jaeger
- Computer Graphics Supervisor:
- Steve Braggs
- CG Sequence Supervisors:
- Hayden Landis
- Henry Preston
- John Helms
- Lead R&D Technical Supervisor:
- Craig Hammack
- Technical Supervisors:
- Jeffrey Benedict
- Kate Choi
- Natasha Devaud
- Tom Fejes
- Christian Foucher
- Polly Ing
- Hilmar Koch
- Sara Mathew
- Jason Rosson
- Paul Sharpe
- Christa Starr
- R. Christopher White
- Lindy Wilson
- Compositing Supervisor:
- Jeff Doran
- Compositors:
- Mimi Abers
- Leah Anton
- Kathleen Beeler
- Barbara Brennan
- Grady Cofer
- Brian Conlon
- Jay Cooper
- David Fuhrer
- Brian Hanable
- Sean MacKenzie
- Candice Scott
- Craig Simms
- Catherine Tate
- Susan Weeks
- Ronnie Williams Jr
- Dean Yurke
- Lead Tarantula Animators:
- Scott Benza
- John Zdankiewicz
- Animators:
- Heather Knight
- Julie Nelson
- Steve Nichols
- Tom St. Amand
- Scott 'Huck' Wirtz
- Digital Timing Supervisor:
- Kenneth Smith
- Visual Effects Editor:
- Michael Gleason
- Visual Effects Co-ordinators:
- Jeanmarie King
- Daniel Brimer
- C. John Benson
- Digital Model Supervisor:
- Simon Cheung
- 3-D Matchmove Supervisor:
- Michael Halsted
- 3-D Matchmove Artists:
- Lanny Cernak
- Wendy Hendrickson-Ellis
- Dani Morrow
- John Whisnant
- Digital Paint/Roto Artist:
- Heidi Zabit
- Lead Digital Painter:
- Patrick Jarvis
- Digital Paint/Roto Artists:
- Kelly Fischer
- Deb Fought
- Zachary Sherman
- Mike Van Eps
- Erin West
- Laurel Woods
- Lead Tarantula Viewpaint Artist:
- Bridget Goodman
- Viewpaint Artists:
- Tony Summers
- Elbert Yen
- Digital Matte Artists:
- Ivo Horvat
- Kurt Kaufman
- Bill Mather
- Bob Scifo
- Mark Sullivan
- Film Scanner Operators:
- Joshua Pines
- Mike Ellis
- Todd Mitchell
- Digital Plate Restoration:
- Katrina Stovold
- Ladd McPartland
- CG Technicians:
- Suni Dailey
- Matt Davies
- Natalee Djokovic
- Matt Blackwell
- Project Supervisor:
- David Dranitzke
- Visual Effects Director of Photography:
- Kim Marks
- Practical Effects Supervisor:
- Geoff Heron
- Effects Technicians:
- Dave Heron
- Rob Clot
- Frank Tarantino
- Supervising Model Makers:
- Lorne Peterson
- Michael Lynch
- Model Makers:
- Giovanni Donovan
- Robert Edwards
- Peter Ronzani
- Mark Buck
- Peggy Hrastar
- Additional Visual Effects
- Cinesite
- Special Effects Supervisor
- Michael Lantieri
- Special Effects
- Don Elliott
- Michael Fallavollita
- 2nd Unit:
- Tom Ryba
- Design Consultant
- Glen Eytchison
- Art Director
- Tom Duffield
- Set Designers
- Patrick Sullivan
- Maya Shimoguchi
- Gerald Sullivan
- Mariko Braswell
- Set Decorator
- Cheryl Carasik
- Costume Designer
- Deborah L. Scott
- Costume Supervisors
- Mari Grimaud
- Paul H. Lopez
- Make-up
- Key Artist:
- Whitney L. James
- Artists:
- Theresa Austin
- Robin Beauchesne
- Judy Murdock
- 2nd Unit:
- Christy Newquist
- Special Effects Make-up Designer/Creator
- Rick Baker
- Cinovation/Rick Baker Crew
- Shop Foreman:
- Bill Sturgeon
- Administrator:
- Jeff Steele
- Make-up Artists:
- Lance Anderson
- Ken Diaz
- McGrath Make-up:
- Ed Henriquez
- Grant Costumer:
- Claire Flewin
- Key Hairstylist
- Martin Samuel
- Hairstylists
- Lucia Mace
- 2nd Unit:
- Alicia Tripi
- Main Titles
- Imaginary Forces
- Titles/Opticals
- Pacific Title/Mirage
- Additional Music Score
- Peter Bernstein
- Orchestrations
- Emilie A. Bernstein
- Music Editors
- Kathy Durning
- Patricia Carlin
- Score Engineer
- Dan Wallin
- Soundtrack
- "Wild Wild West" by Stevie Wonder, Will Smith, Mohandas Dewese, performed by Will Smith featuring Dru Hill and Kool Mo Dee, includes samples from "I Wish" performed by Stevie Wonder; "Bailamos" by Mark Taylor, Paul Barry, performed by Enrique Iglesias
- Choreography
- Lynne Hockney
- Monica Guy
- Sound Design
- John Pospisil
- John Fasal
- Eugene Gearty
- Sound Mixer
- Peter Kurland
- Re-recording Mixers
- Kevin O'Connell
- Greg P. Russell
- Supervising Sound Editors
- Skip Lievsay
- Bobby Mackston
- Dialogue Editors
- Norm MacLeod
- Gloria D'Alessandro
- Karen Spangenberg
- Dave Arnold
- Suhail Kafity
- Sound Effects Editors
- Sean Garnhart
- Craig Berkey
- Donald Flick
- John Thomas
- Dave Grimaldi
- Glenfield Payne
- Blake Leyh
- Lewis Goldstein
- Hamilton Sterling
- Solange Schwalbe
- ADR
- Mixer:
- Thomas J. O'Connell
- Supervising Editor:
- Juno J. Ellis
- Editors:
- Denise Horta
- Stephen Janisz
- Nick Korda
- Foley
- Artists:
- Marko Costanzo
- Dan O'Connell
- John Cucci
- Mixers:
- George Lara
- Jim Ashwill
- Supervising Editor:
- Ben Cheah
- Editors:
- Jennifer Ralston
- Frank Kern
- Kam Chan
- Victoria Martin
- Matthew Harrison
- Post-production Technical Consultant
- Tom Ringo
- Stunt Co-ordinators
- Terry J. Leonard
- Artie Malesci
- Philip Tan
- Train Co-ordinator
- James Clark
- Head Wrangler
- Rudy Ugland
- Cast
- Will Smith
- James West
- Kevin Kline
- Artemus Gordon/
President Ulysses S. Grant - Kenneth Branagh
- Dr Arliss Loveless
- Salma Hayek
- Rita Escobar
- M. Emmet Walsh
- Coleman
- Ted Levine
- General McGrath
- Frederique Van Der Wal
- Amazonia
- Musetta Vander
- Munitia
- Sofia Eng
- Miss Lippenreider
- Bai Ling
- Miss East
- Garcelle Beauvais
- girl in water tower
- Mike McGaughy
- big reb
- Jerry Wills
- other reb
- Rodney A. Grant
- Hudson
- Buck Taylor
- eye-crossed reb
- E.J. Callahan
- Mr Pinkerton
- Debra Christofferson
- Dora lookalike
- James Lashly
- reb 1
- Dean Rader-Duval
- reb 2
- Christian Aubert
- French dignitary
- Orestes Matacena
- Spanish dignitary
- Ian Abercrombie
- British dignitary
- Ismael 'East' Carlo
- Mexican dignitary
- Bob Rumnock
- Whitehouse aide
- Carlos 'Gary' Cervantes
- Rita's husband
- Jerry Potter
- George Washington
- Mik Scriba
- guard
- Michael Sims
- Morton
- Certificate
- 12
- Distributor
- Warner Bros Distributors (UK)
- 9,523 feet
- 105 minutes 49 seconds
- Dolby digital/DTS digital/SDDS
- Colour by
- Technicolor