The Wild West is a dangerous place and no one knows more so than Seth McFarlane. We have a review of A Million Ways to Die in the West after the jump.
Following on from the success of Ted and his hit series Family Guy and American Dad, Seth McFarlane take on the Wild West in a comedy filled with gunfights and little in-jokes.
McFarlane plays Albert – a sheep farmer who lacks the testicular fortitude to get involved with any kind of confrontation. He is down on his luck having recently been dumped by his girlfriend Louise (Amanda Seyfried) for the local moustache lotion seller Foy (Neil Patrick Harris). Albert, in a rage, challenges Foy to a duel, but instantly regrets it due to him having no experience with a gun…ever.
Luckily for Albert though, Anna (Charlize Theron) has moved into town and is willing to teach him how to handle his pistol. They soon begin to fall in love, but Albert is unaware that Anna is secretly the wife of the most dangerous bandit in the West – Clinch (Liam Neeson).
A Million Ways to Die in the West has many qualities to it. It can be very funny when it hits the right mark, but a lot of the time, the film relies on jokes based around genitalia (human and animal), bowel movements and sex. This is something we have seen a lot of recently (think This is the End). When McFarlane and his fellow writers do an original joke, it works – who knew that the native American word for ‘fine’ was ‘Mila Kunis’?
McFarlane does well as the leading man, something that is new to him, and he is supported well. The film also features a few nice cameos from the likes of Ryan Reynolds, Christopher Lloyd and Jamie Foxx.
In the end, A Million Ways to Die has some great humour in parts and an addictive moustache song, but I feel it could have worked even better had it used less of the toilet humour and more originality.