The result is a wacky western that manages to avoid the pitfalls that films such as Barry Sonnenfeld’s overblown Wild Wild West and the more recent Jonah Hex.
Just before the opening credits, we are introduced to a young Luke who not also sees his father and Indian mother murdered, but also manages to escape from a dastardly gang who are known to never have a single survivor.
We then skip through time until we find that Luke has grown up into a quick-shot cowboy named Lucky Luke (Jean Dujardin), who is given a mission from the President of the United States to clean up Daisy Town before a great railway track can be completed.
Luke sets about putting all of the crooks in jail, becoming the new sheriff and in overthrowing the old, evil sheriff, Pat Poker (Daniel Prevost), makes a dangerous enemy.
Despite the failed attempts of hiring the childish Billy the Kid (Michael Youn), Luke and Poker eventually have a duel, which ends with Poker being killed. Shocked at his first kill, he moves back to his old home with Belle (Alexandra Lamy) to rediscover himself before taking down Billy the Kid and the remaining crooks in Daisy Town.
Jean Dujardin gives a brilliant performance playing Luke, who is both funny and engaging to watch, while the cast members who play Jesse James, Billy the Kid and Calamity Jane also do brilliantly well at portraying iconic people from history with some unique approaches to them.
Director James Huth manages to bring the charismatic character and his comic book world to life, while making the ridiculous look and feel natural for the film.
Throughout the story, we see colourful costumes, distorted buildings and a talking horse and these elements work well because they make them all fit together without making one or the other look out of place.
My overall opinion on the film is that while this might not be everyone’s cup of tea, if you see this knowing that its going to be wacky, then you will (hopefully) really enjoy yourself.
Here’s a trailer for y’all to decide.
Looking forward to this.
Have you Jean Dujardin's great work as OSS 117 or the '91 Terence Hill Lucky Luke?
Is this Lucky Luke as good as the two OSS 117 films?
I was aghast when I saw the first clips of this (which were put together in a very slipshod manner) but having read the review here my fears have eased! I loved reading the Lucky Luke comics as a teen, but was concerned that it might end being as trashy as the Asterix live action movies. Here's hoping!