Heh, I saw this on TV the other night. I had forgotten how terrible it is. It's basically Men in Black relocated to the Old West, with Kevin Kline replacing Tommy Lee Jones and a giant fucking spider replacing aliens. But while MIB feels fresh and witty, this one is tired and stale. Will Smith doesn't even bother to change his character, and Kline just acts as goofy as he can. Add in Kenneth Branagh channeling fuck knows what and Salma Hayek's T&A, and it's pretty much a guaranteed soul-sucker. I did laugh a few times, though. Not sure what that says about me.

I thought it was okay the first time I saw it. Then I saw an episode of the old TV series. That series had more wit and originality that this film could've ever had. The problems for the film begin right at the top with Barry Sonnefeld and Jon Peters. Sonnefeld's direction and style is the complete opposite of how a Wild Wild West film should've been. The overall look of the film is just simply horrible. As for Jon Peters, all he really cared about was getting that giant spider in there, which he somehow thought would come across as entertainment. And although I like Will Smith and Kevin Kline, they are horribly miscast here.

And yet in some sick and twisted way, the film is watchable.

C-

One thought popped into my head when I saw this movie: "Please, God, make it stop."

D-

Super bad...

B/B+


A HUUUUUGE guilty pleasure, but I really enjoy it. Innovative and funny. I like the chemistry between Kline and Smith and Branagh makes a great OTT ridiculous villain.

Now Men in Black II, that is real crap.

I swear to god you are the German version of me but less sexy.

WWW is a pretty big guilty pleasure. Not enough to justify giving it a great, or even fairly good grade, but enough to bring it out of the bad-grade level and into a more average realm. I won't go out of my way to watch it, but if it's on TV I'll gladly stop and indulge myself. B-

Yeah, not awful

It's been about 12 years since I last saw this, and my earlier post was based on my theatrical viewing. But I actually saw it on TV last night and figured what the hell.

It's really not that awful, but there is a lot to dislike about the film. First of all, it's a terrible adaptation of the series. Going for the "Lethal Weapon" approach to West and Gordon is a bad idea, but Kline and Smith do have some fun moments together, sifting through a cliched screenplay the whole time though. The train and gadgets are fun, as are some of he cinematography. But Neither character is really explored, and Branagh's villain is nothing compared to the original, but his overhammyness is certainly interesting. Producer Jon Peters simply wanted to take everything that was popular at the time (Bond gadgets,Rush Hour and MIB, even a Will Smith single attached) and whatever bad ideas of his were scrapped from other productions. The Spider is just ludicrous. Who in their right mind would ever think a giant spider would be reason enough to surrender the USA?

It needed to be ballsier. An actual black man in post Civil War America could have been a great role for Smith. In fact, I wonder if this films original reaction may be deciding factor of his passing on Django.

It's a completely missed opportunity at what could have been a very interesting franchise. What's left is a throwaway film with effects that hold up, a decent buddy comedy, and some effective action scenes. The performances by everyone is serviceable. Looking back, this is at least more fun than Lone Ranger. This was Smith's first step in the wrong direction, passing on Matrix in favor of this. I wonder how different his career would have been if not for that decision.

C-

B-

Very fun. But weird ending.