Special effects vs the storyline
By Ervell E. Menezes

IF Star Wars Episode I : The Phantom Menace and Wild Wild West are any indication, then Hollywood is going through another phase of FX (special effects) — heavy entertainers. I think it was the early 1970s when car crashes and spectacular explosions were fashionable, films like Dirty Mary Crazy Larry and their ilk, sort of sacrificed story for FX. The Phantom Menace and Wild Wild West are even more FX-heavy but then in the process they even get boring.

In both these films, the story is almost non-existent and The Phantom Menace is a prequel. Don’t we know Hollywood’s penchant for regurgitating old titles ? May be George Lucas’ two-decade hibernation found expression in that razzle-dazzle ballistic stuff and kids too are non-plussed. You need to read the synopses to know what’s happening and parents are being pestered about what’s going on. Yes, I saw it in a cinema house and was almost lulled into sleep.

Speaking about the state of the arts FX and movie gizmos is all very well, but then like the original film, Star Wars sacrifices content for form. The colossal sets are reminiscent of Cleopatra or any of the Biblical classics made by Cecil B. de Mille with the chariot race taken from Ben-Hur and you have all kinds of creepy, crawly creatures and complicated robots running hither and thither but too much of that can also be self-defeating.

It takes the viewer back to the beginning (and there will be two more sequels to this prequel) in which Darth Vader is a hopeful boy named Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), the role played by Alec Guinness in the original film, is a determined young Jedi Knight under the tutelage of Jedi master Qui Gon Jin (Liam Neeson). Yes, these ones pledge their services to the teenage queen of Naboo (Natalie Portman) as their planet is being invaded by the enemy, thanks to some ruthless trade decision taken by an enormous trade federation.

What follows is a series of battles in which sleek aircraft and spaceships whiz across the screen and weird creatures grapple with even more weird creatures. Enough of mayhem to lull even avid cinema buff to hope for an end to all these laser-missile wars. I’m sure they’ll make more money through the merchandising of the toys than from the sale of tickets. It is easily the most-hyped movie to date but let’s see how it fares at the box-office.

Wild Wild West in similar vein. There have been spoofs on the Western and I can readily think of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Young Guns and its sequel. They were quite hilarious. In Wild Wild West Will Smith has the persona to carry a film on his shoulders but the super-gadgety works against the story. Remember the James Bond films with gadgets galore ? But at least they allowed the story to be narrated. Here the story keeps chugging from gag to gag, from one push-button invention to another till the gadgetry becomes an end in itself and the story runs out of steam.

For starters it tries to combine the Western with the secret agent genres and you have special government agents James West (Will Smith) and master of disguise Artemus Gordan (Kevin Kline) sent to track down the diabolical Dr Arless Loveless (Kenneth Branagh) who plans to assassinate the United States President. They are helped by the seductive but mysterious scientist Rita Escobar (Salma Hayek).

But the screenplay by Jeffrey Price and Peter Seaman is meandering and director Barry Sonnenfeld is handicapped by the super-gadgetry. If he had exercised some restraint the story might have been vaguely visible. So, apart from some cute lines and the push-button anything is possible formula the film virtually runs out of ideas and is left hanging in midair, awaiting the sequel most likely.

I thought one Wild could have been eliminated from the title but if there is a sequel they will be adding a third West to the title In that respect Tarzan is much better conceived and more tastefully put across.

The old Edgar Rice Burroughs story is given a new twist and the jungle man has to decide where is his place with the humans or with the animals. The Lion King too there is an element of sadness which gives the film more feeling, and though the visuals are good they don’t really sacrifice content for form.

I know there have been some bad animation films coming out of Hollywood recently (Anastasia for one) but this comes up to the standards set by The Little Mermaid and The Lion King. What’s more if I was asked to see any of these films again I’d opt for Tarzan.

This feature was published on December 5, 1999