Rating of
3.5/4
"The Good, The Bad And The Weird" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 02/12/12
A petty thief stumbles upon a map whilst robbing a train and sets off to retrieve the treasure with a cold blooded assassin, a bounty hunter, a gang of outlaws and the Japanese army in pursuit. The Good The Bad The Weird despite its title has little in common with Leone's film. It's far more of an out and out action film, spending little time bothering to flesh out the back story of the characters and the plot is really just a long chase punctuated by over the top shoot outs. What it is, is a lot of fun; the charismatic leads are always engaging to watch and the lighthearted blend of comedy and action has far more in common with the likes of Indiana Jones than The Man With No Name. I personally would have liked to have seen more of "the good", the laconic bounty hunter was for me the most interesting character, but also the one we learn the least about. It has a couple of nice twists, and the ending can be seen as a comment on how in the modern age, wealth has become an abstract that has been taken from the grasp of the individual. I'd recommend watching the alternate ending if its available, which contains a couple of extra scenes that made it a lot more satisfying (quite why they were removed in the first place, I have no idea) and seeing it pushed my score up half a star.
