Okay so lets dive back into the wild west genre. It’s certainly not my favorite genre by a longshot but this film is based on the famous Butch Cassidy so it should be solid right? Well it does have some nice humor but on the whole this definitely wouldn’t be one of the stronger ones. You’d probably need to either throw more humor in or some more fun gunfighting in place of the rather long chase scene.

The movie starts by introducing us to Butch and Kid who are some of the most notorious outlaws around. Kid is the muscle of the group and everyone fears his gun abilities while Butch is a leader who always has a lot of plans going on. Technically Kid isn’t really a part of the main group and is more of a freelancer but apparently he’s constantly working with Butch so they may as well be a duo. Butch takes out a guy who tries to take over the group and then goes back to robbing trains. What he is not counting on is that the local authorities are getting awful tired of him. They’ve hired an Indian to help them track down the duo and mean to take them down for the count. Is this is for the outlaws?

So right away what I did like here is that the film has a pretty fun sense of humor. There are a good amount of jokes being thrown around the whole time and a lot of them land. For example, the quick fight I mentioned earlier where Butch fights with the guy trying to become leader was clever. He basically used tactics and a quick wit to beat the guy while first making the guy acknowledge that a knife fight has no rules. He completely outplayed the opponent both mentally and physically which is the best way to win.

He may be a planner but Butch gets a lot of respect throughout the movie. He can also fight pretty well with a gun as needed so it’s not like he’s a one trick pony either. He has a good dynamic with Kid that tends to make for a lot of fun banter. They are a really good team there. Then you have Kid who is fun to follow because of his great gun skills. The opening scene where he shoots a guy’s gun off of his belt was definitely impressive. Was he cheating at the cards? Yeah almost definitely I’d say which is why I always wonder how so many people played cards back then.

It feels like everyone was cheating and it would all come down to a gunfight anyway so why even bother right? This is where the film has a bit of a missed opportunity though. We establish early on that Kid is excellent but there aren’t a whole lot of gunfights. Sure we have a solid climax and there are some scattered moments throughout the film but we don’t get anything that quite tops this early scene in the action department. The film used its best scene almost right away.

A good chunk of the film is the duo running away from the Sheriff and his posse. It makes for an interesting bunch of scenes because usually the main characters aren’t on the run for so long but it does drag on a tad. I also feel like they could have beaten the group in a straight fight thanks to the Kid’s skills although he seemed less sure about that. Perhaps if he spent more time training and less time role playing then he would be better equipped to handle such a situation.

It goes without saying that the romance here is pretty awful. The opening role play scene is just brutal to watch and it never really gets better from there. This tends to be another weakness of the wild west genre as the main characters tend to be eager to just have random affairs and have a lot of commitment issues. In part because they likely knew that they could die at any time and also in part because that’s just a very weak justification for what was going on. Not the best look at any point.

I think the film could have used some strong antagonists to make the adventure more memorable. The most memorable character instead was the poor attendant trying to keep the door closed while on the train. I give him a lot of credit for holding his ground even while the main characters were trying to steal all the supplies. Butch is probably right that his boss wouldn’t have had the same fortitude but still the guy does his best and holds the line to the end. I definitely can’t fault him for that and since the main characters are villains you’re actually pulling for him to make the upset victory happen.

I would just say there is always a big difference between bravery and just sacrificing your life for no reason though. There was absolutely no way he was getting out of that situation at this point whether he opened the door or not. Instead all he was doing was potentially throwing his life away. At least grab a weapon or something. His stand ultimately serves no purpose. He may have stayed loyal to the end but those loyalty points don’t work when you’re 6 feet under. There are times to take a stand and sometimes there are times not too. It all depends on the context and of course what you are standing for.

Overall, This may not have been the best wild west title but it had its moments. I’d say it’s reasonably memorable as a whole even if the antagonists weren’t. The movie kept up a pretty good tone with its solid mix of serious adventuring with a little dash of comedy thrown in from time to time. That makes for a good mix in a wild west title and it just needed a little more comedy or a little more action to turn the corner. Still if you like this genre then you should check out the film. I think you’ll have a good enough time here which is what counts.