'Wild Wild West,' a wild special effects ride

By Tam Notosusanto

JAKARTA (JP): Is there really any American or British television series left unmade for the big screen?

Every year, we witness how Hollywood digs up the tube culture's treasured past and comes up with repackaged material that are quintessential summer blockbusters. That has been part of Hollywood's own growing recycled culture: remakes of TV series, remakes of other movies and re-remakes of other movies.

And so, Wild Wild West comes as no surprise. That the memorable 1965-1970 series, about two federal agents in post- Civil War America fighting ingenious enemies of the state, should be brought to the big screen is inevitable, if not highly anticipated.

This Warner Bros. production retains very much of the series' charm, except, of course, stars Robert Conrad and the late Ross Martin. In their place are Will Smith and Kevin Kline, two of Hollywood's current most bankable stars. Smith, as we know, has become an annual summer blockbuster hero, and Wild Wild West marks his fourth consecutive year in that position, following Independence Day, Men in Black and Enemy of the State. Kline, meanwhile, is an actor formerly known as a face in serious dramas before his Oscar-winning comic prowess in A Fish Called Wanda led him to mostly comedy roles such as I Love You to Death, French Kiss and In & Out. Wild Wild West makes the best possible use of both talents.

Set in 1869 America, the story brings Captain Jim West (Smith) and U.S. Marshal Artemus Gordon (Kline) together on an assignment from President Ulysses S. Grant to delve into a string of abductions of the nation's most prominent scientists and inventors. As they reluctantly go into their collaborative investigation, West and Gordon eventually meet the evil mastermind Dr. Arliss Loveless (Kenneth Branagh), a disabled technological genius and disgruntled ex-Confederate soldier who is keen on assassinating President Grant and take over the United States administration.

The movie proceeds as an adventure spectacle as West and Gordon attempt to thwart Loveless's evil plans and release the scientists he imprisons. But although the film's title suggests that it is all about endless gunfights and other western movies' antics, Wild Wild West is actually so much more than that. Despite the 19th century setting, it can still be a dazzling display of state-of-the-art special effects that deserve a place alongside some of the best visual effects work ever exhibited in motion pictures.

With this film, producer-director Barry Sonnenfeld establishes himself even more as the crafter of comical effects-laden movies, following a filmography that includes The Addams Family, Addams Family Values, and the hugely-successful Men in Black. With Wild Wild West sci-fi fans are indulged with the two agents' hi-tech train, Gordon's innovative creations, and a giant robotic tarantula which is a swifter, smoother version of those gigantic camels in The Empire Strikes Back. And wouldn't Lt. Dan, that crippled war veteran in Forrest Gump (a movie Sonnenfeld was slated to direct) be full of envy to see Dr. Loveless's entirely missing lower limbs, a technical feat which would surely bring this movie to next year's Oscars' visual effects competition.

Sadly, the film itself is missing something, and it's the intelligence and humor that has brought The Addams Family and Men in Black much acclaim. The Wild Wild West's script is credited to six individuals -- Jim Thomas, John Thomas, S.S. Wilson, Brent Maddock, Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman -- and even that doesn't help. Their idea of wit is suggestive lines like "baby, you can't be rammin' a man's personal thing into a hole like that," which is inserted in the tedious pre-credit opening sequence. After that, it's an endless series of insipid jokes and uninspired one-liners, with a meaningless overplay of gay undertones (each of the heroes dressed in drag in two separate occasions, a scene of them touching each other's breasts, and how a function at Dr. Loveless' residence is referred to as his coming-out party.

It would still have been a blast if Smith had employed his witty, cool-cat charm, but he was only given limited comedy time since Jim West is apparently supposed to be the serious, no- nonsense gunslinger.

There's nothing exciting too see either from Branagh, who looks like a demented Hercule Poirot with hair extensions, and whose false southern accent is much worse than the one he uses in The Gingerbread Man. Nor from Salma Hayek, whose damsel-in- distress role is a drawback to all strong, independent female roles of the 1990s: she's an insignificant sexpot whose main task is to exclaim admiringly, "Ooh, he's courageous, or Ooh, he's so graceful."

That leaves Kline, who plays the dual role of Gordon and President Grant, a sight to see. Appearing as two different individuals in one frame, conversing with each other, is a trick he has showcased in Dave and Fierce Creatures. He and the special effects are the only reasons Wild Wild West stays afloat.