wild wild west ( pg ) . ( warner bros/village roadshow ) director : barry sonnenfeld stars : will smith , kevin kline , kenneth branagh , salma hayek , ted levine , m emmett walsh , frederique van der wal , musetia vander , sofia eng , bai ling , rodney a grant running time : 106 minutes . hollywood again proves that it has lost the plot with yet another misguided attempt at bringing a forgotten '60's tv series to the screen . wild wild west followed the exploits of a pair of secret government agents who travelled across the wild frontier by train thwarting threats against the country . this big screen version ultimately seems little more than a camp , second rate bond-like adventure set against the background of the old west . from the outset , with its fresh , hip hop take on the familiar theme music , it's clear that this new look wild wild west is far removed from the original tv series , and clearly determined to follow its own slightly modern path . a horribly miscast will smith ( enemy of the people , etc ) steps into the robert conrad role of james west , president grant's top secret agent . although the film is set in the years immediately following the civil war , the thought of a black man venturing unobtrusively through the frontier and battling villainous plots is a little too incredible to swallow . the film is set in 1869 , several years after the destructive and divisive civil war has left its scars on the fledgling nation's psyche . long presumed dead , the embittered and crippled dr arliss loveless ( kenneth branagh ) re-emerges from hiding , driven by a megalomaniacal lust for power . he has conceived a preposterous plot to dismantle the union and return the various states to their previous owners . he has kidnapped several notable scientists , and forced them to work on his ultimate weapon of mass destruction - actually a giant mechanical spider which stomps across the frontier blasting towns into oblivion - in the hope of blackmailing president grant into agreeing to his demands . enter west ( smith ) and artemus gordon ( kevin kline ) , two of grant's top agents , who are forced into a reluctant partnership to thwart loveless's diabolical scheme . west is an impulsive man of action who shoots first , while gordon is a more thoughtful but somewhat eccentric agent , with a penchant for disguises and clever inventions that are ahead of their time . this odd couple pairing follows a predictable formula , although their relationship brings an almost contemporary sensibility to this unorthodox western . the pair spark a number of laughs along the way , with plenty of snappy one-liners and some risque humour . the best gags though are the visual ones , in particular a series of sly in-jokes depicting some contemporary cultural icons . the film starts off promisingly enough , but degenerates into camp farce with the arrival of the legless loveless and his amazon army . branagh's performance is all corn-ball humour and dreary accent and bad jokes , and he hardly establishes a menacing presence . smith brings an arrogant attitude to the role , but his performance lends a contemporary flavour to the character . kline actually plays a dual role here , appearing both as gordon and as president grant , and he brings a nice comic edge to his performance . although smith and kline develop a good rapport and work well together , they deserve better material . the vivacious salma hayek is wasted in thankless , exploitive role that doesn't really allow her to do much . director barry sonnenfeld ( men in black , etc ) is a dab hand with the spectacular effects and gimmickry on display , but somehow the whole thing lacks credibility and a genuine sense of excitement . with this often silly mix of western action and high-tech gadgetry , sonnenfeld and his team of gun writers , which includes s s wilson and brent maddock ( short circuit , etc ) and jeffrey price and peter s seaman ( who framed roger rabbit ? , etc ) , seem unsure of their target audience . like the b-grade , megalomaniacal bond villain of the piece , this lame attempt to revive the '60's television series lacks any sort of legs , and fails to last the distance . tame tame west is more like it ! 
