WYATT EARP'S REVENGE DVD (2012)
SYNOPSIS: Based on the true story of the legendary lawman, Earp recounts how he brought together the Best of the West to avenge the vicious murder of his beloved Dora. Joined by the famed Bat Masterson, Charlie Bassett, Bill Tilghman and Doc Holliday, Earp rides after the Kenedy brothers, who are on a murder spree that spans from Dodge City to Mexico. Protected by their powerful father, the ruthless brothers know that the law won't touch them - but they gravely underestimated Earp and his posse. Featuring Shawn Roberts, Matt Dallas, Grammy® nominated Country Music artist Trace Adkins and Val Kilmer.
MOVIE REVIEW:
Val Kilmer’s name on the cover of a movie with a title that has Wyatt Earp in it may lead you to think that this is some quasi-sequel to ‘Tombstone’, but in actual fact this made-for-TV western does little justice to the titular vigilante lawman. What could have been an interesting discourse on the pursuit of justice outside the bounds of law and order instead becomes nothing more than a dreary retelling of how Wyatt gathered a posse of men to avenge the death of his love, Dora.
Told in flashback with the puffy-faced Kilmer playing an older Wyatt interviewed by a Kansas City Star reporter, it is shockingly unambitious in its storytelling, content to simply lay out Wyatt guided by a fervent sense of justice and a heart for revenge. The latter however is apparent only when Wyatt declares it, since first-time screenwriter Jeffrey Schenck has no clue how to portray it onscreen. The same can also be said of Shawn Roberts’ blank performance as Wyatt, which is quite simply an utter disgrace to the character in question.
If Wyatt is dull, then the rest of his men are simply forgettable. Of course Bat Masterson (Matt Dallas), Charlie Bassett (Scott Whyte) and Bill Tilghman (Levi Fiehler) are anything but in real life, but after gathering them together with Wyatt, the movie gives them so little to do that they might as well have sat the proceedings out. Instead, they are no better than the henchmen of Wyatt’s villain Jim ‘Spike’ Kennedy (Daniel Booko), whose deaths hardly mattered one way or another.
The fault is partly Schenck’s script, partly the inexperienced C-grade actors and partly director Michael Feifer’s- everyone involved was apparently not told that occupying some space on the screen is not equivalent to making an impression. Ironically, not Wyatt nor his three trusted men are the ones that stand out, but rather Booko’s Spike, who seems to be the only character with a presence in the film.
Feifer knows neither to manage the story, his actors or the tone of the movie, which veers from drama to melodrama and then to farce. At least an inexplicable sequence which mines the classical character of Doc Holliday (played by Kilmer in the ‘Tombstone’ movie) for broad laughs is oddly out of place, especially since he seems to derive pleasure out of inflicting pain on others and watching them cry out in agony. That sequence alone does leave an impression all right, but mostly for the wrong reasons.
Undoubtedly, this was a movie made on the cheap, which by virtue of that fact means that the movie will look as it were filmed on makeshift sets. But that’s still little excuse for the piss-poor story, the terrible acting and the nonexistent direction that lets the movie ramble aimlessly for a good one and a half hours. With such a crappy production, it’s no wonder Wyatt felt he needed to take some revenge.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Why bother with an extra when you’ve got nothing else to say- that was what we were thinking when we saw ‘Riding Along with Wyatt Earp’, probably the most unnecessary behind the scenes featurette we’ve ever seen.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track does little to help the poor sound mixing of the film. Visuals are sharp, but only serve to highlight the low quality HD video format this was shot in.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Gabriel Chong
