Cowboys & Aliens (2011)

As a fan of westerns, science fiction, Harrison Ford and the lovely/exotic Olivia Wilde, I've undoubtedly been excited about Cowboys & Aliens for sometime now.  The cast is incredible, the trailers were awesome, and the combination of two rarely bred genres definitely promised an interesting experience.  Still come opening weekend I couldn't help but become slightly bogged down in the sudden pessimistic reactions from a large portion of critics and early moviegoers.  And the multiple comparisons to Will Smith's abomination  (the movie adaptation of one of my favorite classic TV shows The Wild Wild West), put doubt in my mind that Cowboys & Aliens was going to be any good.

Daniel Craig is Jake Lonergan, a man who wakes up in the middle of the desert with no boots, no memory of past events, a large wound on his chest and a metal device (which turns out to be an alien weapon) seemly soldered to his wrist.  You'd think things couldn't get much worse for him, but isn't this usually when everything starts really going downhill?  Traveling to the nearest town he gets into a scuffle with the son of the town's most feared man (Woodrow Dolarhyde aka Harrison Ford), discovers he's a wanted man and lands himself in shackles on the next prison wagon to Santa Fe.  But that wagon never makes it out of town as the citizens finds themselves under the invasion of a group of strange flying crafts which begin grabbing the townsfolk, hurling them into the sky and whisking them away.  With half the town abducted, those who remain must put aside their differences and team up to rescue their loved ones.

The plot of Cowboys & Aliens is simple, but then what exactly do you expect from a film called Cowboys & Aliens!?!  In my opinon it's pretty hard to make a bad action/adventure film if you have a stellar cast.  Combine a mediocre cast with an average plot and sure there's probably little hope.  That's essentially the case with Cowboys & Aliens, if you like the cast I think you'll overlook any glaring flaws you may think the film has; if you don't really care for any of the stars then you're more likely to find something to complain about. Because of this, and the initial reaction the film seems to be getting I think most people are going to split down the middle on this one.  Still, fan or not most seem to agree that the performances by Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford and Olivia Wilde are solid, it's the premise and execution most people seem to have an issue with.

For the most part the biggest complaint I've gathered from the handful of reviews I've read is Cowboys & Aliens isn't over-the-top enough, it's boring, it's bland, it's not cohesive and it simply isn't fun.  Along the same lines some didn't like the fact that the film had a more serious tone than they expected and that the few "emotional" scenes felt out of place in a film I assume they thought was going to be something like Snakes On A Plane.  Unfortunatley that's the problem when you venture into or near "B-Movie" territory, although it's my opinon Cowboys & Aliens was never meant to be a B-Movie, but that seems to be what a majority of the naysayers were wanting.  Personally I share none of the above mentioned criticisms.

At the same time I don't have anything overly praise worthy to say about the film.  As a standalone western it's average, as a standalone science fiction film it's average, it's the conglomeration of the two which has really ever been done on this scale before, along with an amazing cast that made the film enjoyable for me, without an as good cast I couldn't see this working.  Daniel Craig does a great job as the amnesia stricken tough guy, a role that was previously given to Robert Downey Jr who backed out prior to filming.  I couldn't see Downey in this role, he's better suited for the sarcastic, smart aleck characters, something Jack Lonergan obviously isn't.  

Harrison Ford is the new go-to-guy in terms of actors to play grumpy old men, and he plays it flawlessly (as he also did in Morning Glory), plus he can still deliever on the more emotional scenes, which I thought were probably some of the better executed scenes in the film.  And the icing on the cake is Olivia Wilde, who I swear could stare at the camera for an hour and I'd be in a trance.  Her character has a bit of a spin thrown on it later in the film which made her a little more interesting.  Just a side note, someone needs to get her and Summer Glau together and do some short of action or science fiction series, the two look like twins separated at birth.

Overall, one of the things I liked most about Cowboys & Aliens is that it does take itself somewhat seriously, by not attempting to be a Piranha 3D style of over-the-top B-movie camp-fest.  It's a straight western film with a lot of science fiction elements but it's all done with a straight face, some winks and a little bit of dry humor.  Unfortunately I think a lot of people are going into it expecting something extremely off the wall and overly campy, and therefore are going to be sorely disappointed.  The premise is campy in it's own right, the film just not overwhelming so, and it worked for me.  So if you're looking for an interesting mix of genres, a great cast and a decently executed story, then Cowboys & Aliens will provide you within 118 minutes of good entertainment.  It's not the best movie of year, but it's worth taking a chance on if it sounds like something you'd be interested in.

8/10