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
Last Updated: 20 Dec 2011