Wild Wild West (1999)

The critic finds the film a flashy but uneven gadget-driven comedy that falls short of its Men in Black ambitions, with dazzling effects and contraptions undermined by a weak script and uneven performances.

The film gets by on sheer visual style and Will Smith's likeability but feels laboured due to a weak script with six credited writers. Production design successfully captures the quirky Jules Verne sci-fi aesthetic of the original TV series.

Superficial and predictable with bloated special effects, the film remains good-natured fun thanks to Will Smith's charisma and inventive gadgetry. The smutty script, below-average one-liners and endlessly drawn-out climax are offset by the gizmos.

The movie is a big, lavish production with no there there, ruled by ghoulish special effects that leave storytelling arbitrary. Will Smith's presence is noted as its greatest asset amid the flimsiness.

The hugely expensive action-spoof has all the wrong kind of energy and works over the audience rather than entertaining it. Will Smith stands out as a movie star, but the film is unlikely to be a major commercial success.

The film gets its proportions wrong, sacrificing playfulness and humor for a relentless display of ho-hum gadgets. Capable co-stars Smith and Kline are underutilized in this top-heavy production.

Talented people stub their toes in this elaborately expensive misfire that misses the bull's eye as entertainment. The breezy style cannot overcome the cumbersome mechanics and unfocused script.

The critic's verdict is that the film is a terrible, abject mess without the heart to be a western, the style to be a tech-thriller or enough humour to be a comedy. They single out the complete lack of on-screen chemistry between Will Smith and Kevin Kline for complaint, while noting some ingenious and elaborate design reminiscent of Terry Gilliam and the Coen brothers.

This is a monument to vacuous chequebook cinema with a pitiful script that produces absolutely no laughs and a profound fog of boredom. It is unrecognisable as the work of the director who made Men in Black.

The film is a comedy dead zone where scenes flop without delivering laughs or substance. The critic highlights the lack of chemistry between leads Will Smith and Kevin Kline and the pointless extravagance of its special effects.

The critic views the film as an over-the-top retro sci-fi spoof where everything is excessive, with explosive gags, grandiose effects, and gothic performances that fail to cohere. Smith and Kline lack chemistry as the leads, while Branagh overacts enjoyably as the villain and Sonnenfeld prioritizes effects over character and story.

The film fails spectacularly as a buddy movie, with mismatched leads and forced direction from Sonnenfeld. It became a punchline due to its bloated budget, negative reception, and lasting embarrassment for those involved, though it delivered on producer Jon Peters' giant spider obsession.

The critic calls the film a notorious summer-movie catastrophe and one of the worst big-tentpole releases of its era, remembered mainly for its bomb status and Razzie awards. He singles out the poor chemistry between the leads and the giant mechanical spider as emblematic of its failures.