“Cowboys & Aliens” Could Have Done Without the Sci-Fi
Delivering exactly the dose of classic western and sci-fi the title promises, director Jon Favreau (Iron Man 2) blends the two well-worn genres into the high-concept movie Cowboys & Aliens, a clunky and unimaginative summer blockbuster that will nonetheless satiate moviegoers looking for some undemanding entertainment. The film underwent a long and frustrating gestation that began all the way back in 1997 and as with most movies these days, it was adapted from a popular graphic novel. Featuring such luminaries as James Bond and Indiana Jones as well as a large number of all-star names both in front and behind the camera, the movie gets off to a really promising start. It’s just too bad the aliens had to drop in on the party.
Daniel Craig plays a mysterious man-with-no-name (initially) who wakes up in the middle of the desert, wounded, amnesiac and confused about that curious metal bracelet strapped to his left wrist. Before even uttering a single word, he promptly dispatches three bounty hunters waiting to ambush him and makes his way to the nearby frontier town where he immediately runs afoul of the local cattle baron Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford). But before the two can settle their score, alien spaceships appear out of nowhere and level the town, kidnapping some of the townsfolk in the process. Now, those left behind must form a posse to rescue the missing.
Despite the potential for a campy and humorous B-movie, Cowboys & Aliens is oddly set on playing itself out as straight and seriously as possible. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing because the first half of the film is nothing less than engrossing and proves that it could have worked really well as a straightforward western. The story starts with a bang, replicating the familiar nameless new stranger in town trope that can be found in so many westerns and it’s a joy to watch the characters being introduced and eventually coming together to form a posse. It’s blatantly obvious that the movie is heavily influenced by John Ford’s classic westerns and Favreau isn’t afraid of mixing in more deliberately paced scenes of outlaw and native encounters to build camaraderie among these cowboys between the big, shiny action set pieces.
Sadly, the movie opens in such a compelling manner that the second half pales in comparison. When a certain character is astoundingly brought back from the dead in a completely unexpected and head-shaking plot-serving device, the movie quickly goes awry, leading to a mindless cowboys versus aliens final battle and minimal exploration of an intriguing concept that has 19th century people being invaded by extra-terrestrial creatures. But with no less than 5 writers and 16 producers involved (including Ron Howard, Brian Grazer and Stephen Spielberg), one shouldn’t be surprised that the script felt awkwardly pieced together. More perplexing however is that a movie with such a fun title as Cowboys & Aliens could be so unambitious and lacking in surprises and imagination.
Nonetheless, the star-studded cast keeps this afloat. Craig is well-cast, effortlessly commanding the screen as the stoic leading man with a mysterious past. Watch out for an hilarious running gag about Dolarhyde’s weaselly son (Paul Dano) getting repeatedly abused by Craig’s character. Meanwhile Ford is fun to watch, basically reprising the same type of role he played in last year’s Morning Glory: a mean, ruthless old man who progressively is revealed to have a more gentle, fatherly nature underneath it all.
A group of great actors provide some much needed gravitas to the movie in supporting roles, including Sam Rockwell as the good-natured saloon owner, Keith Carradine as the well-meaning town sheriff and Clancy Brown as the local preacher. Sadly, none of the characters in the movie are more than two-dimensional. And the comely Olivia Wilde, poor girl, can do absolutely nothing with Ella Swenson, a nearly unplayable character which is burdened by absolutely terrible dialogue and clunky exposition.
The pleasing cinematography from Matthew Libatique makes excellent use of the stunning New Mexico locale, capturing the majestic and moody atmosphere of the westerns of old. The action sequences are enjoyable especially the War of the Worlds-like night attack on Main Street while the design and execution of the computer-generated aliens is solid albeit a bit generic. The creatures never really inspire much fear beyond being simplistically portrayed as evil and in essence, this is symbolic of the movie’s main shortcoming: The cowboys could have done without the aliens.
I can’t help but think this would have worked so much better as a true western. Nonetheless, you could do a lot worse this summer than the relatively pleasant Cowboys & Aliens.
B-
Notes: Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of western and sci-fi action and violence, some partial nudity and a brief crude reference, 118 minutes.
28 Comments
Good review, Castor. I saw it yesterday and I think I would give it a lower grade but I can also see what you’re saying about how it might appeal to other people. It being “oddly set on playing itself out as straight and seriously as possible” I think sums up my thoughts on the matter.
I wanted to a summer-y sort of movie and I got to the theater and I couldn’t decide if I wanted to see this or “Captain America.” I chose this. I think I made the wrong choice.
So you wanted more of a campy B-movie? I think it would allowed for a lot more creativity although I’m not sure I would have liked a self-ironic tone.
I have seen both Captain America and this. Both were a bit underwhelming to me.
Ha. Always nice to hear someone singing the same tune. I couldn’t shake that thought either. “I wish they had just made this a straight up western”.
The cast basically is the saving virtue though. It’s no wonder all of these people are stars. They can basically take anything and make it watchable.
Yea I absolutely loved every scenes, shots and moments that were western-themed. All the alien stuff was really generic and boring.
great review Cas.
When I first heard the title I was like ‘are you kidding me?’ cowboy and alien don’t match up together. When I saw the trailler, it didn’t look all that bad.
I am not sure it will be played in my cinema but I will watch in DVD.
It’s worth a watch Novia, hope you enjoy it when you get to see it
Maybe Craig will get another shot at a Western. Beyond that this film could have used more development time.
I hope so too
But I have to wait for several months to see it, waiting for the DVD to be released.
I am down for an early screening for this but it is not for a couple of weeks (pesky UK and its late release dates)
I am going to try and go in with the same low expectation that I seem to have to go in on most of the summer blockbusters. Which is a shame
Great write up Castor, as ever!!
Thanks
C
Thanks Custard. It’s not bad at all as long as you don’t expect anything too groundbreaking
Nice review, Castor, you don’t write as many reviews anymore but I wish you would
Wow, 5 writers and 16 producers??! That’s just crazy, too many cooks spoiled the broth syndrome perhaps? I’m still curious to see it and since I still have a couple of cheap tickets from Groupons I might use it. Glad to hear the cast at least was still worth watching.
Yea I’m going to start revving it up again with the writing (been taking a bit of a break the past few weeks) but I’m working on a couple features and will start reviewing movies a bit more often
Check it out, it could have been better but there is much worse out there. Plus we could use the 0.0000001 pt (split in half) from your tickets LOL. Thanks for dropping by Ruth!
I’ll go on the record and say that this film absolutely worked for me. Definitely popcorn entertainment at its best and a pretty original concept in a summer filled with much unoriginal material. Chocolate & peanut butter go well together and so do “Cowboys & Aliens.” We’ve seen modern society take on aliens till the cows come home. I was intrigued by the idea of frontiersmen trying to mount a defense against technologically superior opponents. Good show Favreau.
I actually gave it high marks, too. Although, my expectations were pretty low to begin with, admittedly.
And outside of Olivia Wilde’s character and a couple of other quickly eliminated side characters, I thought they rounded out their character’s fairly well for a summer flick.
Yea, I loved the characters even though they weren’t fleshed out all that much. It always help to have highly charismatic actors to play them.
Glad you liked it Markus. Maybe we get a Knights & Zombies or something down the road ah!
On that note, isn’t there a Pride & Prejudice & Zombies project in the works?
Yes but it stuck in development hell it seems. David O’Russell dropped out because the studio only wanted to spend half of what he felt he needed.
An offer has been made for Emma Stone to star but that was more than a month ago.
I actually laughed out loud reading the title. That’s an actual serious project and not just a satire? Jane Austen is rolling in her grave.
Good review, Castor!
As you know, I came down on the other side of it, actually having enjoyed the movie, but you make some very good points!
And, say what you will about “Cowboys & Aliens,” but “The Smurfs” tying it for first place? That’s got to be a sign of the apocalypse. That or the inevitable SEQUEL for “The Smurfs” that I’m sure is just days away from being greenlit…
Yea it’s sad. Don’t people have any dignity? Thanks for stopping by Julio
Mashups are hard. I liked Jason vs Freddie but this one I’ll wait for to be released on DVD.
Just a sidenote to everyone throwing sh*t at the smurf movie, how many of you have actually seen it?
Admittedly, terrible trailers and bad reviews have left me a little overconfident in my non-viewing assesment of it. But I’m willing to listen to a defense of “The Smurfs.”
Floor’s yours, Joel!
Lyckily for me it doesn’t premiere in Sweden for at least another month. By that time someone in the bloghosphere must have been curious enough to see it.
Smooth, Joel. Smooth.
In hindsight, this project seems like a no-win situation. While I generally agree with you, I tend to think that it they had delivered a campier, funnier version of this movie, we would all be clamoring for something more serious. I think the larger issue, and this might have plagued it regardless of the route taken, is a lack of personality, which if you’ve read anything I’ve written (or heard anything I’ve said) about this, you already know. Craig and Ford are too dull on their own or together to bring enough spice to something like this, and the few people that were (Dano, Brown) are shoved off to the side fairly quickly.
They could have also stood to remove the Noah Ringer subplot altogether. Nothing against the kid, but WTF was the point of that? Did they need further motivation? There was surely enough.
I think the same thing as to your idea that this would have been better as a western w/o the space side. I say the same thing in my review of the film. It is definitely filmed in a quite stunning matter though.
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