[SPOILERS BELOW]
- (P) Positives
- (N) Negatives
- (?) Other points/Neither positive or negative
- (P) Hilarious, with tons of jokes constantly flying at you (with the majority of them landing). Many of them utilise the tools of film-making (e.g. cinematography, sound etc.) to accentuate or drawn attention to them, such as the pan-and-tilt shot that leads into a significant fourth wall break at the end of the film, causing film sets and productions to explosively collide in a huge brawl that make it's way through the entire Warner Bros. studio. Scene blocking is also used extensively for comedic effect i.e. Our villain Hedley Lemarr's goon, Taggart, walking too far in front of Lemarr and having to walk backwards a bit, Lili von Schtupp missing the banister/rail/thing awkwardly in the middle of a dance etc. ... Visual jokes are more funny when you actually see them, obviously. Also, a generous amount of verbal and running jokes ("What in the wide, wide world of sports...", "...these are people of the land. you know...morons!...", "It's Hedley, not Headdy!", everyone in Rock Ridge having the last name "Johnson" etc. Not to mention all the deliberate anachronisms with Broadway songs, the WWII German soldiers etc. cropping up throughout - which in the context of the movie being a parody of your archetypal Western, enhances the film's satirical nature. Many of the jokes also draw attention to the racist attitudes of those in "the Ole West" and criticizes them for that through humour, and/or by making them look dumb, foolish or otherwise, silly.
- (P) Chemistry between Bart the Sheriff (Cleavon Little) and Jim, the Waco Kid, (Gene Wilder) was strong, bouncing off of each other well i.e. their quickly founded friendship was instantly believable; in addition, the acting as a whole was also very well done.
- (?) While arguably the film's main role is to be satirical and humourous, the pacing seemed to dip somewhat in the middle, with the film having a strong opening, a sorta kinda weak-ish middle, and a very strong ending.
- (N) Some of the editing felt a bit off at times, with some transitions being a bit awkward. Which is a shame considering how much attention to detail the rest of the movie has...which isn't to say the editing was bad per se, but it could have been better.
- (N) The baked beans scene. Even in a film like this, it was too juvenile for my tastes.
Overall: 9/10
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