This isn’t a new topic, but I am going to say something that is apparently controversial – I enjoyed this 1999 movie. Honestly, I still enjoy it once in awhile.
Every once in a blue moon I see someone poo-pooing this movie. I’m sitting here going, “What did you want it to be” – and I feel like the reviews I see never tell me. They tell me it’s campy, slap-stick comedy and clownish. I blink and think “Ok? And?” Rotten Tomatoes puts it at 16% for critics and 28% for users. Granted, most of those “critics” apparently wrote the reviews (or reposted them?) in 2014. There are some from 2008, so it’s not like 2014 is when RT started up…. 15 years later? Yeah, I’m not going to say the movie holds up.
It’s probably because I’ve never seen the show it’s based on. When I watched the movie in 1999 or 2000, it was fresh and new and there were no preconceived expectations. It was a different take on the entire “wild west” idea for me. Smith and Kline had great chemistry. I thought if there is a critique in the casting it was in Hayek. I never felt the chemistry between her and anyone else. remember even at the time thinking “damn, she is just using these two doofs like the worst example of manipulative woman-kind.”
The special effects were fine. It was 1999, I vaguely remember thinking it was pretty good. There were only a few times they jumped off the screen. It wasn’t any Jurassic Park, but let’s be honest – nothing IS. That’s present tense for a reason. JP is on another level and it isn’t very fair to compare…. ok you know what, never mind. Everyone should be told to hit the level of JP. Maybe not everyone, but a lot. Like big-budgets should never have cartoonish effects (looking at you Star Wars) or uncanny valleys.
So Ok, the effects critique is very fair. I think the writing could have played down the special effects (saved money too) and played up the world. Ok, maybe my plan wouldn’t save money since you’d need more people instead of effects. Whatever, it’s my idea. I also wonder if this was a case of too many smart people trying to all lead in different directions and the project getting out of control.
I dunno. It’s a shame, because I think both Kline and Smith are great comedians, and their chemistry really holds a lot of the movie together (for me). Granted, I haven’t seen every Kline movie, but the ones I’ve seen – he always seem to have great chemistry. Smith usually does, but it has levels. Hitch? Mediocre chemistry. Men in Black? Excellent. Independence Day? Terrible chemistry saved by excellent writing and other characters.
I’m just saying, in my opinion, people might poop on this one a little too much. Much like The Mummy, I feel like people take it too seriously and expect too much – just dive headfirst into the camp and enjoy the ride. Also granted, I have a high tolerance for creatives trying and missing.
Dream by Day 