A Million Ways to Die in the West movie review

Article by Gabe Zia

Lazy Film Critic reviews...

A Million Ways to Die in the West is the latest live action comedy film from Seth Mcfarlane, who previously brought us Ted and shows like Family Guy. The film stars Seth Mcfarlane, Charlize Theron, Liam Neeson, Neil Patrick Harris, Amanda Seyfried, Giovanni Ribisi, and Sarah Silverman. Yeah, pretty solid cast, Seth Mcfarlane directing, not to mention it's a comedic western film, so this film has a lot going for it. Which is why it sucks to say this film just is not good.

Liam Neeson as the films main villain... for about 10 minutes

First of all, this is a comedy, so the first thing I should address is the comedy in the film. Overall, the jokes themselves aren't that bad, in fact they're pretty funny for the first bit. But after that, the comedy runs thin. First of all, the film recycles pretty much every joke from the first ten minutes of the film. And I don't mean like in Shaun of the Dead where there are a lot of running gags, I mean the movie seems to reuse older jokes but without seeming like running jokes. Second of all, the film uses a lot of gross humour (as Seth Mcfarlane is known for), but the jokes go on for too long (also much like Seth Mcfarlanes style). But these are minor complaints in comparison to the utter lack of jokes in general. The film takes itself a little too seriously at times, spending way more time on slower less comedic moments than being what it is.

Easily the funniest scene in the movie. Best place to put it? The trailers.

And that's where my other major issue with the film comes from. A huge chunk of the film is spent with developing the story and characters, only the story is incohesive and the characters are just not very interesting. The film becomes muddled with a rushed villain, a sub-plot with Neil Patrick Harris's character that takes up way too much screentime, and characters with no real use. Both Giovanni Ribisi and Sarah Silvermans character do nothing for the story, and all of their scenes are spent with this odd running joke. 

Final Rating

A Million Ways to Die in the West is an overall unfunny movie with the occasional joke, but it amounts to nothing more than a sloppy boring film. There are some very funny cameos in the film which are probably the best part of the movie. However, the fact that an actor showing up for a few seconds with a pop culture reference is the best part of the film is probably enough for you to know this film is not worth the time.

A Million Ways to Die in the West: 2/5