Abbott Elementary: Only this show could almost redeem “Wild Wild West”
Abbott Elementary had one of their best cold openings of their run this week, before the school had to wrangle a ringworm outbreak (complete with Ava in a hazmat suit).
And that cold open had to do with a debate over what was Will Smith’s best movie.
Some of the titles thrown around was “The Legend of Bagger Vance”, “Seven Pounds” and “Men In Black”.
But of course Janine threw up “Wild Wild West”. Arguably Smith’s worst movie.
Still, because this Abbott Elementary cast is so good, the argument turned into the whole meeting doing a line dance to the Will Smith title track with the Sisqo vocals and a great laugh leading into the opening.
For real though. Wild Wild West was a dreadful bomb. The first real miss of Smith’s solo movie career after Bad Boys, Independence Day, Men In Black and Enemy of the State.
It was a sci-fi steampunk western that featured Smith, Kevin Kline, Selma Hayek and Kenneth Branaugh. It had big mechanical spiders and vapid plot. While 1999 is considered one of the best years ever for blockbusters with films coming out in the Star Wars, Austin Powers, American Pie, Matrix, and Mummy franchises, Wild Wild West completely threw it off sync for a few days.
It does beg the question though. What is Will Smith’s best movie?
Blockbuster wise it may be the first Bad Boys. It was before Michael Bay got anywhere near Transformers and of course you had Martin Lawrence.
Dramatically, it may have actually been the film that won Smith his Oscar “King Richard”. Of course we forget about the Oscar because of “the slap” of Chris Rock.
What do you think? Let me know in the comments.
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