Big Kill is a western about four men who have a date with destiny in a boom town gone bust called Big Kill.
You get the sense that, at least from the beginning, writer and director Scott Martin had big plans for his sophomore effort Big Kill, trying to mix action and comedy with an old west edge. It’s not new of course, a few classic films in the genre doing it right, from Richard Donner‘s very funny Maverick to (of course) Mel Brooks‘ seminal Blazing Saddles. Martin isn’t quite in the same corner of the tent with the likes of those titles – and a few others – his movie not nearly as polished or well-written, but he certainly commits, which in the end, has its pay off.
Beginning not so much as a nod to the famous ending of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid but a kind of ‘what could have happened’ sequence, we meet Travis Parker (Clint Hummel) and Jake Morgan (Martin), a couple of good ol’ boys getting into a little trouble in Mexico. Too bad that trouble is some stolen money and the daughter of ornery General Morales (Danny Trejo). They are chased out of the country with flying bullets and end up in Texas where, a few days later, come upon Jim Andrews (Christoph Sanders), a city slicker from Philly who is headed to Big Kill, Arizona and needs a couple of armed guides. Feeling they could drop roots in a new place, the two agree and soon enough find themselves in the weird little town run by a preacher (Jason Patric) and a daper gunslinger (Lou Diamond Phillips) keeping the law in their own unique way.
Wanting to be epic, Martin clocks his film in at over two hours, which is the first of a few missteps, the small setting and story, despite some grand visuals, padded out to lengths beyond its borders. Whole scenes end up feeling like they had great intentions but truthfully, unneeded, as if Martin just couldn’t let his editor snip what ought to be snipped. He’s got the right look though, the dusty town and costumes fitting the bill (and expectations) but there is a strange sort of artificiality to it all that keeps things feeling like its a stage play rather than a movie. There’s a lifelessness to the town, everything coming off like we’re watching a daily sideshow at a studio themed park.
That said, Big Kill has a kind of charm about it, Martin not maybe knowing what he wants from his efforts but at least showing the genre and its fans some respect. His ambitions extend beyond his limitations but he tries real hard to satisfy, packing in every single possible cliché and trope of the American Westen you can think of (and some you forgot). There is not a moment in any of this that’s innovative but at least it’s all delivered with gusto, and when you have a cast that features men like Patric, Trejo, and Phillips, who totally gets what he’s there for, gnawing on the scenery as if he were the anti-Steve Martin in The Three Amigos, there’s reason to keep watching. There’s also some spirited performances from some women, including fiesty bits from Stephanie Beran and Elizabeth McLaughlin, who are stuck in ruts as characters but make the most of it all the way through.
This is a light breezy western colored with some bits of mild violence. It never challenges and sticks rigidly to the conventional, but it does so with be absolute best intentions. It may take a bit getting used to the tonal peaks and valleys, not to mention the stagey feel, but it does seize you the more it plays out. Call it an earnest effort, deserving of a look, even if it might not entirely succeed.