Main cast: Will Smith (James West), Kevin Kline (Artemus Gordon), Salma Hayek (Rita Escobar), Kenneth Branagh (Dr Arliss Loveless), M Emmet Walsh (Coleman), Bai Ling (Miss East), and Ted Levine (General Bloodbath McGrath)
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld

This is the movie everyone loves to hate. Me, I enjoyed it tremendously. Probably because I’ve only caught one or two episodes of the old TV series this movie is based on, and even those I remembered only vaguely. Hence, I watched Wild Wild West on a clean slate, without any expectations or preconceived ideas on what to expect and what to nitpick on. It turned out to be a fun movie in the tradition of leave-your-brains-at-check-in blockbusters. There were the usual two polar opposites forced into an uneasy alliance, lots of zinger exchanges, and plenty of special effects.

James West was a US Marshal who, in President Ulysses S Grant’s words, shoots first, second, then some more, and then asks questions of all the dead people lying around. Artemus Gordon was a fellow US Marshal who prefers to use his brains, investing his skill mainly in inventing clever mechanical gadgetry.

Both their paths collide one night in a bordello when Artemus is in this awful female disguise and James’s presence blundered up his mission. A meeting at the White House then revealed they are both after the same man who is kidnapping all the leading and famous scientists around the place. Whoever is behind this kidnapping has as a result created a secret weapon that would destroy the country unless the President surrenders the country to him. The two US Marshals have a week to clear this matter up. These two men, already disliking each other’s approach, have to work together on this case.

Here is where I must say I find James and Artemus fun together. Their exchanges have me laughing loud, particularly the scene where James gave his opinion on Artemus’s fake chest padding (part of his female disguise). It is even more fun watching them trying to outdo each other while vying for the affection of Rita, an ‘entertainer’ who actually wants to rescue her father from the villain’s hands. Rita is your typical clueless ditz, but Salma Hayek plays her with enough panache to make her likable. Even more fun is Dr Loveless, a man who has lost his entire lower half of his body (don’t ask how he survived to tell the tale). His veiled insults at James’s skin color were matched word by word by James’s equally sarcastic barbs at his infirmity. “How did we get into such a dark situation?” is replied with “I’m as stumped as you are”.

I found James West an intriguing character. A former slave and soldier who had to fight the scorn and disdain of others on his skin color, how could he manage to remain laughing and easy-going? It was a pity the script doesn’t flesh him out more fully. His conversations with Artemus, you know, those obligatory bonding sessions, are very brief, giving only a glimpse of what may be a remarkable hero. Artemus is a bit more oblique. A dapper gentleman who frowned on pugilistic skills and spent time making gadgets, who is he really? A lonely man? He certainly could charm, so that couldn’t be. So who is Artemus Gordon? I never knew.

Which may be why many dislike this movie. Characterization barely dent the surface of whom these people could be. I wish the script hadn’t sacrificed character development for the sake of effect-laden excitement, however fun the latter might be. Although I have to admit I find it a refreshing and realistic approach not to have James and Artemus bonding so thoroughly to the point of being drinking buddies

Ah yes, the special effects. I love the way they make the old West so real yet at the same time, so sanitized! That’s Hollywood for you. It is a delight, however to see Penny Farthings on the road alongside horses, the half-finished future famous landmarks of Washington DC, although I puzzle over the fact that most of the women usually turn up in some sort of red/blue/green tight corset and nothing else. I know, this is a movie for the boys after all. But that don’t stop me from enjoying Wild Wild West Although I have to admit I find it a refreshing and realistic approach not to have James and Artemus bonding so thoroughly to the point of being drinking buddies thoroughly. There, I’ve said it. I love the movie!