Wild Wild West is a comedy dead zone. You stare in disbelief as scenes flop and die. The movie is all concept and no content; the elaborate special effects are like watching money burn on the screen. You know something has gone wrong when a story is about two heroes in the Old West, and the last shot is of a mechanical spider riding off into the sunset.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Ebert calls the film a waste of money where special effects overpower the story.
- In plain terms
- The movie has cool effects but no real story.
- What can you take from it?
- Spectacle cannot replace substance in storytelling.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Does technology ever hurt storytelling?
- Can style exist without substance?
Another view
Some audiences prefer spectacle over deep narrative.
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