The Western Comedy Flop On Amazon That Deserves A Second Chance

For those who aren’t familiar with the film, A Million Ways to Die in the West is an over-the-top Western comedy starring Seth MacFarlane, Charlize Theron, Amanda Seyfried, Neil Patrick Harris, and Liam Neeson in one of his funniest roles to date.

Seth MacFarlane wrote the screenplay for the movie along with some help from his frequent collaborators and Family Guy producers Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild. A Million Ways to Die in the West is MacFarlane’s second directorial effort, arriving shortly after his acclaimed 2012 comedy Ted.

Unfortunately, audiences had a much harder time flocking to A Million Ways to Die in the West than they did to Ted and the 2015 sequel Ted 2, making the Western one of MacFarlane’s most critically underwhelming releases.

The film currently touts an embarrassing 33 percent critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, and carries some truly scathing reviews from critics who caught it in theaters. Personally, I can see why this was a tough watch at the box office, though I think streaming it at home makes for a much better experience with the film.

For starters, A Million Ways to Die in the West is rife with some really wacky, absurdist, borderline Family Guy style jokes. While we can all enjoy laughing at a few commitment-free bits from the comfort of our couches, I can see why some people couldn’t be bothered to make the pilgrimage to a theater and pay an increased premium to hear a human-shaped Brian Griffin riff about insurance premiums at an old saloon. To make matters worse, the performances are super over-the-top in this film, which could be grating in a theater environment.

I don’t mean to insult the film by saying this, but A Million Ways to Die in the West just plays better when you can periodically glance at your phone, or pause to grab something to eat. It lacks the cinematic spectacle of something like Dune, and doesn’t pack in a very gripping story to leave viewers feeling engrossed. In fact, it sort of plays like a two-hour long high-budget YouTube video, where Seth MacFarlane runs through a list of funny observations and parodies of classic spaghetti Westerns.

REVIEW SCORE

Those who missed A Million Ways to Die in the West should definitely check this one out today on Amazon Prime Video. While it failed to impress critics, it will certainly give you a few hearty chuckles, especially if you’re a big Family Guy fan. If the film had premiered just a few years later, when streaming services were chomping at the bit to acquire their own original exclusives, I firmly believe this movie would have performed much better than it did in theaters.