Wild Wild West (1999)

[K1stpierre]

Discuss

[John Marston]

Pretty bad. But the song is awesome

[dxmatrixdt]

Wow, what a mix this was.  Wild Wild West reinvents the 1960s tv show.

The setting is 1869 Post-Civil War, the United States is still at war with each other 4 years after the Civil War.  President Ulysses Grant succeeds Andrew Johnson's 1865 post-Lincoln term.  Further out in the West, Dr. Arliss Loveless and General McGrath meet up with the Eastern powers to fund and construct steam powered robotic tanks that can walk through any city right up to the White House.  Their mission is to liberate the United States by dividing it amongst other countries including their alliances.  

The main character James West from the Union Army has been restructured from a white man to a black man.  His origins assumed he was raised free of racial discrimination and now he navigates in a Post-Civil War landscape still at war, on assignment, and with super fast reflexes.  He has yet to be introduced with the other main character U.S. Marshall and technological wizard Artemis Gordon. Situational comedy involving sexual innuendos and disposable characters with disposable violence bring them together. They end up on assignment to stop General McGrath's efforts to continue the war and discover he is operating under Dr. Loveless who is untouchable to everyone beneath him which suggests he has been disguised as the peoples God, their conscience, and orchestrator of their future.  While investigating, Artemis Gordon rescues a caged Rita Escobar who is part of the kidnapped scientists under Loveless and McGrath and plays as an object for them throughout the movie.  

 

The scenes look very expensive, with the comedy and violence looking to 'dig in' and reflect those times during U.S. history.  The women that made peace with war and themselves serve as Loveless's henchmen and seem to be ripped from Sucker Punch.  The entire movie wastes its time with gags, executions, and introductions, leaving not much for the plot or the action to breathe.  This is a movie you have to watch 2-3 times in a row and take note of to capture all of the flavors.  

 

75/100

[SteveJaros]

I saw this almost 20 years ago when it was on its original theatrical run. Then and now, it's a bloated mess to me. Everyone is miscast, and there is a giant metal spider in it at some point.

 

No need to ever view it again, LOL. 👎