‘James Bond’ meets ‘Indiana Jones’ in this highly anticipated sci-fi western film. Is “Cowboys and Aliens” any good? J.P. brings us a review of the film.
COWBOYS & ALIENS
Universal Pictures
Starring: Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell, Adam Beach, Paul Dano, Noah Ringer
Directed By: Jon Favreau
Produced By: Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Scott Mitchell Rosenberg
Executive Produced By: Steven Spielberg, Jon Favreau, Denis L. Stewart, Bobby Cohen, Ryan Kavanaugh
Studio Synopsis:
Blockbuster filmmaker Jon Favreau directs Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford in an event film for summer 2011 that crosses the classic Western with the alien-invasion movie in a blazingly original way: Cowboys & Aliens. Joined by an arsenal of top moviemakers—Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci—he brings an all-new action thriller that will take audiences into the Old West, where a lone cowboy leads an uprising against a terror from beyond our world.
1875. New Mexico Territory. A stranger (Craig) with no memory of his past stumbles into the hard desert town of Absolution. The only hint to his history is a mysterious shackle that encircles one wrist. What he discovers is that the people of Absolution don’t welcome strangers, and nobody makes a move on its streets unless ordered to do so by the iron-fisted Colonel Dolarhyde (Ford). It’s a town that lives in fear.
But Absolution is about to experience fear it can scarcely comprehend as the desolate city is attacked by marauders from the sky. Screaming down with breathtaking velocity and blinding lights to abduct the helpless one by one, these monsters challenge everything the residents have ever known.
Now, the stranger they rejected is their only hope for salvation. As this gunslinger slowly starts to remember who he is and where he’s been, he realizes he holds a secret that could give the town a fighting chance against the alien force. With the help of the elusive traveler Ella (Olivia Wilde), he pulls together a posse comprised of former opponents—townsfolk, Dolarhyde and his boys, outlaws and Apache warriors—all in danger of annihilation. United against a common enemy, they will prepare for an epic showdown for survival.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdfuJW9CZr0[/youtube]
J.P.’s Take:
[Please Note: Some Minor Spoilers]
“Cowboys & Aliens” isn’t a spaghetti western played for laughs ~ it’s a straight laced western with a little sci-fi on the side directed by Jon Favreau (“Elf,” “Iron Man” and its sequel).
At its base, “Cowboys & Aliens” is a classic western teaming with the usual scenes of Native Americans, rough necked cowboys, bandits, horses and the likes. The unusual twist comes when the aliens join the party. Adapted from the graphic novel created by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg, the film surrounds itself in mystery.
By nature I’m a curious person and I became automatically intrigued with “C & A” as it opens with a mysterious scene involving Jake Lonergan (Daniel Craig), who wakes up in the middle of the desert, with no memory of who he is or how he got there. While he recuperates, he discovers an odd cuff strapped to his wrist, and to make matters worse, trouble then ensues when highjackers happen upon him. After Jake takes them down in fierce brawl, he gathers their clothing, a gun and other useful items then strolls into a town called Absolution. This is where Jake meets the townfolks, including the mysterious Ella (Olivia Wilde) and Colonel Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford), who rules the town. After several scenes where Jake discovers he is a criminal on the run, alien ships hovers in the sky and kidnaps the people. Jake, Colonel Dolarhyde, Ella, and a small posse search for the aliens and rescue their people.
I was willing to invest my full attention into what was going to happen next. The suspense of this genre blending film does keep you locked into your seat as like a roller coaster climbing to its peak. Initially, I enjoyed the slow building mystery, which does pose some plausible plot scenarios. You can imagine how perplexed the townsfolk of Absolution were, when they were suddenly attacked by mechanical winged objects. People of the 1800’s had almost no knowledge of what was beyond the stars. When they encountered these strange and ferocious beings, they thought they were demons. This element in itself creates a since of fear and intrigue.
Secondly I like that fact that this is a Sci-Fi Western not just a Space Western. What’s the difference you ask? Usually Sci-Fi Westerns take place in the old west typically around the 1800’s to 1900’s, with sci-fi elements sprinkled in to add to the bewilderment. Space Westerns on the other hand are the opposite taking place in outer space in the future with a western theme. An excellent example of a space western would be the film, “Serenity.” The concept of aliens invading Earth isn’t a new idea; however, the idea of the old west being the backdrop for an alien takeover is an interesting one. Another considerable plot point involves the characters setting aside their differences in order to band together to defeat an enemy far more threatening. These points combined are what sparked my intrigue while following the story.
Although I felt the old west portion was well constructed, I wasn’t altogether satisfied with the sci-fi portion. Unfortunately, the aliens were unintelligent screeching animals. They really did nothing but chase after the people like prey. As proven in films like “Alien” even “Predator” the more intelligent the predator, the scarier they became. These creatures of this movie weren’t necessarily scary just noisy and slimy. Realizing that most intergalactic beings travel to Earth to harvest our recourses, most of the time the reasons aren’t explained. I wish for once someone would figure out why.
While the cast gave top notch performances, my major gripe is the movie’s conclusion. I would have preferred something with a twist, instead of the Hollywood standard of obliterating the enemy. What if both the folks of Absolution and Jake found out that he was an alien defender sent to save Earth from these critters? I understood the gest of the film as a whole. All in all the ending just felt HUM-DRUM to me.
Once again, I saw the film with my film buddy and “Sidewalks Entertainment’s” creator and co-host, Richard R. Lee, who was extremely disappointed with the film. As a fan of the TV series “Firefly” and film sequel “Serenity,” Lee is used to the sci-fi meets western elements. While he was surprised by the film’s straight forward storyline, he didn’t feel much suspense in the story, he felt bored with the characters, and he didn’t care for the aliens. By the end of the film, he was wondering why the aliens were on Earth, what were their purpose, why do we need a mysterious traveler (Wilde) to give them some back story, and why did the aliens kidnap the townpeople and brought them to their ship? Unfortunately, he didn’t get his answers. Beyond the cast, the movie has some major name behind-the-scenes credits, including Steven Spielberg, Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (“Star Trek,” “Transformers”), and Damon Lindelof (“Lost”). With all these successful producers/writers, Lee thought they should give us a spectacular film that would blow our minds away. He jokingly said nobody knew what to do, so they must have taken some elements of their past successes and threw it in or they all wanted to do a western.
For sure this will turn out to be another summer block buster, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to give “Cowboy & Aliens” a B-. I just wished they had have beefed up the science fiction portion with something surprising.