Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
This western / sci-fi mash-up directed by Jon Favreau was released nationwide on July
29th, and ending up grossing just slightly more than it's $163 million dollar budget.
Daniel Craig stars as an outlaw who wanders into the 1873 town of Absolution with substantial
amnesia, and a weird alien device strapped to his wrist. When the owners of his alien-wrist
gun show up to the small western town and start abducting the townsfolk for experimentation,
the outlaw teams up with Harrison Ford, who plays the local wealthy rancher to track down
the mysterious "demons" from the sky, and find their missing friends and family. -CLIP-
The first half of this film is a breath of fresh air: an exciting and captivating blend
of western elements mixed seamlessly with the sci-fi genre. Witnessing an alien attack
from the perspective of characters who barely understand the concept of outer-space is a
novel concept, and one I wish was examined further - instead these ideas and themes are
pushed aside to make room for loud and explosive action scenes later in the film. Visually
speaking, Cowboy's And Aliens is a true delight - the visual effects are imaginative, detailed,
and thrilling. Cinematically, Favreau films nearly every scene with beautiful landscape
shots of the old west, so beautiful you could stick them right on a post-card. Although
the plot descends into a typical Hollywood-action film in the 3rd act, the plot is an original
one, not a reboot, remake, or sequel - and given that it's able to quite aptly hold your
attention, such a feat is very commendable, especially so considering the film had five
separate screenwriters. There are familiar elements of course - to the lone outlaw who
has to put his differences aside and befriend his enemies so they may achieve a common goal...
and scenes inside the alien spaceship feel like a many episodes of Star Trek that have
come before. Rounding out the cast is up-and-comer Oliva Wilde, who, despite being incredibly
easy on the eyes mostly just recites her with little personality, as if trying to get the
project over with. Craig and Ford's individual personas are almost too big to share the screen
together, and it was great to see them both wearing cowboy hats, riding hats, and shooting
revolvers... but neither one gives a particularly impressive performance, but given the genre,
Academy nominations aren't expected either. It's no secret that I'm a huge Harrison Ford
fan... but I can't help but notice that with his increasing age, he just seems to be getting
angrier and angrier - reduced to a type-cast that does nothing more than ask him to constantly
scream at his co-stars. Being a silver-screen legend though, he pulls off the screen very
well, even if it caused me to crack an unintended smile or two. If you're in the mood for a
classic summer blockbuster with chase-scenes, pretty ladies, cool special effects, and some
awesome locations - Cowboys And Aliens doesn't disappoint - it's the definition of a classic
"popcorn movie", and when taken with a grain of salt, it's an immensely enjoyable motion
picture, "Cool concept, a fun adventure". Well, that's what I had to say about the film,
now let's see what you had to say in the YouTube comments.
Back again for the 119th time, here's the Rate-O-Matic to show us how we both rated
"Cowboys And Aliens" -- a SEVEN and an EIGHT. Favreau did a great job bringing together
two great genres, and two great leading men into a very cool summer movie - but it sadly
isn't much more than that, I rate it a COOL. Some of you enjoyed the original western/sci-fi
blend, others got more enjoyment from the explosive action scenes - your scores averaged
to a GREAT.