Wild Wild West (1999)

Firstly I have absolutely no attachment to any of the previous Wild Wild West TV series or comics or anything that came before the film. So I can only go on what was put on screen by director Barry Sonnefeld with Will Smith as James West, Kevin Kline as Artemus Grant, Salma Hayeck as Rita Escobar and Kenneth Branagh as the evil Dr Arliss Loveless. Now I can accept that a Steam-punk Wild West is perhaps not what the original series was envisioning but I liked what they did. West and Grant have to track down Loveless who is holding the American Government to ransom as he has developed new technology.

The story is very much in to the comedy and a bit of slapstick and there is some chemistry between Smith and Kline and they start in the position of disliking each other and through the progression they come to appreciate each others virtues and they probably still do not like each other. The technology is believable in the context of what the film is aiming for and being able to see this and disconnect the sensible from your brain allows you to still enjoy this film.

Overall I can appreciate the fact that many people do not like this film and from what I have heard especially those people that remember the original and view this as an abomination of what the original series was going for. Overall though I can admit that I enjoyed watching this and would recommend it if you are looking for some light hearted comedy a comfortable 6 out of 10.

Jonah Hex (2010)

Film of 2012 #3
Spoilers

This film is so silly it is unbelievable, that is fine as it is a comic book, as I have no affiliation to any comic books I have no idea if it is a true and good representation of what the writer was looking to achieve. It is also a strange set up as it is an origin movie but also the main tale so fast and pushy and could have been done better with cleaner points and less forced in to the start.

You have Josh Brolin playing a scarred hero who came so close to death he can speak to dead people, well fun but used poorly in my thoughts, it seemed to be big enough of a point to mention and then they do use it but not as much as I thought as it really was his only super power as such. Megan Fox, I think had they got an unknown actress there would have been less screen time and less points for the character as really she was extra weight that was not needed, I did think she did what she needed to do quite well actually.

Overall though you have so much crammed in at the start that would have worked if Jonah Hex was like Batman, Spiderman or Superman, so well known everybody knows the source material and the origin story, they could have gone with the cut down, I just feel that they should have done something different with what is not a bad Steam Punk world. I would avoid this film and it only gets one star from me.