Wild Wild West
1999 · Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld
Original language: English
- action
- adventure
- comedy
- science fiction
- western
The story
Legless Southern inventor Dr. Arliss Loveless plans to rekindle the Civil War by assassinating President Ulysses S. Grant. Only two men can stop him: gunfighter James West and master-of-disguise and inventor Artemus Gordon. The two must team up to thwart Loveless' plans.
What it’s like
Bright, saturated Americana with a steampunk sheen: sunlit dust, painted saloon interiors, sepia-warm frontier towns and gleaming brass contraptions that clank and hiss across wide, sweeping Western vistas. Camera moves are busy and cartoonish, with whip pans, exaggerated slow-motion gunfights and gadget-driven set pieces cut to a brisk tempo. The score is big orchestral swing with brassy Western trumpets and a playful, winking energy. The mood is breezy, rowdy and unbothered, a buddy adventure where a smooth gunfighter and a theatrical master of disguise bicker their way through a steam-train chase and a villain's mechanical menagerie. Arcs are lighthearted: two mismatched men gradually trust each other as they chase a grand scheme. Violence is frequent but cartoonish, with plenty of gunplay, explosions and fistfights and very little blood; there is some suggestive humour, drag-based impersonation, and mild peril for a damsel-in-distress subplot. It suits a lazy weekend afternoon, a comfort rewatch, or a group movie night for viewers who want big spectacle, silly gadgets and a fast, goofy romp rather than anything grounded.
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