Cowboys & Aliens

Cowboys and Aliens is a cross genre film based off a graphic novel,  starring Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig.  Craig’s character wakes up not  knowing who he is, or how he got a strange metal object attached to his  wrist. He soon gets captured and learns he was a wanted outlaw. As he’s  about to be taken away spaceships fly through the night sky and start  attacking the town and abducting people. At this point he realizes the  device on his hand can fight the aliens, and joins the townspeople in  trying to get their loved ones back.

The neat thing about this movie is it’s a cowboy movie first, and a  science fiction film second. It has all the tropes of a western,  Cowboys, Indians, bandits, saloon brawls, etc. It also has the beats of  the UFO phenomenon, alien abduction, lost memories, cattle mutilations,  but also the aliens methods (they basically lasso people to abduct them)  and their overall plot fit in perfectly with western mythology.

Along the way there are nice character beats for the various  townspeople, including the dorky saloon owner and his search for  respect. Despite the somewhat goofy title the premise is played  completely straight. My sole complain is that, while it has some  suspense, it should have/could have been outright scary.

One really interesting thing to me was that, unlike most movies of  this type, it left no room for a sequel. It has a definitive ending, and  is a neat experiment in cross genre film. 8.5 out of ten.

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Last updated: 2011-09-04 07:39:25 by jemurr

The long awaited Cowboys & Aliens from Imagine and directed by Jon Favreau opened today in cineplexes all over the country. I think the title might require a small change. I think it could be called Cowboys & Aliens & Cliches. That's right. Everything about this film has been done before, and done better.


Favreau and his army of producers (11 I think) and 6 or 7 screenwriters have copied from dozens of films that we've all seen before, and then, they've not presented this old material in either a new or different way. The film isn't bad - it's just hokey, and lackluster - except for Olivia Wilde's and Daniel Craig's luminescent eyes which can knock you over with their brilliance.


You want every cliche from westerns and space invader films? They're all here.


The Laconic Hero, The Boy, The Dog,The Beautiful Girl who sidles up to the hero at a bar, The Evil Cattle Baron and his gang of ruffians, The Evil Cattle Baron's Wastrel Son, The Hispanic bar-maid, The Gentle Bar Owner/Storekeeper who doesn't know how to fire a gun, The Preacher, The Ineffective Town Marshall, Indians, and the usual assortment of rough and tough cattle thieves, rustlers, and a few motley town drunks.


On the Space Invaders side of the ledger think of a Monstrously Huge Mother Ship, smaller solo pilot combat ships that can fire explosive weapons, They've come to earth to harvest something we have and they need, and it takes quite a long time before we're told what that might be, and of course we are treated to yet another serving of the drooling, scary, and slimy space monsters - which are vaguely Alien-esque or Predator-ish but decidely third rate. Those may be the chiched parts on the Invaders side, but they do get the minimum of plusses for their inclusion. Then again, they couldn't very well be lft out could they?


However these intergalatic visitors also come with plenty of minuses - the monsters don't function well in sunlight, they may have weapons on their attack fighters, but in every man vs monster fight on the ground - none of the monsters have weapons - they must all resort to hand to hand fighting. They capture humans - but with slings and nets. The captured humans are not put into pods, or cells,- instead they're in an 'asleep while standing' mode - hypnotized by a bright light while deep in the bowels of the mothership. This was an idea (capturing the humans) that never went anyplace besides requiring an attack on the mothership and that was done as inexpensively and inconclusively as possible. In short - pointless. 


Want more? There are plenty of Indians, but these Apaches are going to fight with the cowboys instead of against them. Think Men in Black but without the humor. Think Independence Day without the technology, Think 3:10 to Yuma, only the stage coach carrying the prisoners to stand trial in Sante Fe, never even leaves town. Think Predator - only the good guy wears the magic bracelet rather than the monster. Think Invasion of the Body Snatchers only without the subtext. Think Pale Rider without the mysticism.


Many believe that the film genre called The Westerns - aka Cowboys and Indians - is dead. But for the present alternatives. American audience do get tired of guns, drugs, cops, and chases. Or maybe the cartoons have outlived their usefulness, 3D isn't that special, and the rom/coms are all cookie-cuttered, by-the-numbers productions these days.


Me? I hope the western is not dead. Favreau's Cowboys & Aliens is neither creative, suspenseful, scary, nor thrilling. The monsters are hidden from our view for about as long as they could get away with it. Craig does a nice spaghetti-western styled Eastwood , Wilde does a nice Ripley from Alien, and even Harrison Ford does a passable town bully.


But the film doesn't reward the viewers at all. It may end up rewarding Ford, Craig, Wilde, and Favreau financially, but if I were you, I'd wait for the DVD or until you can watch it via a streaming service.  

Last updated: 2011-07-31 07:47:40 by JustMeMike

Set in 1873 and the wilds of Arizona, a stranger rides into the little  mining town of absolution. He has been shot, lost his memory and is a  wanted man for a list of crimes longer than his arm, on said arm is a  rather out of place piece of equipment. Unbeknownst to him, he was  abducted by aliens, a notion far removed from any of the other  townsfolk, that is, until it starts happening to them. You see  it turns  out an alien race has set its sights on the gold in them thar hills and  will do just about anything to make sure they get it all and in the  process wipe out man kind.

With the help of rag-tag team of local townsfolk and the stolen  piece of alien tech attached to his arm, our intrepid abductee heads out  to reclaim the captured humans and put a stop to the dastardly plan of  beings from another world.

I guess my biggest problem with the film was my expectation, its not like you go into a movie like /</gispan style="font-style: italic;"/>/giSnakes on a Plane</span> expecting to see anything less than some snakes on a plane and whilst  cowboys and aliens certainly do appear on the screen and even in the  same shot, the film just doesn’t live up to the mental image you have  just by saying the title aloud.

The film had so much potential and features a great cast including  Harrison Ford, Daniel Craig, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell and many TV  stalwarts and yet they are given very little to work with! I don't think  Jon Favreau really knew if he was making a western or a sci fi as the  look of the film kind of fails at both.  Whilst we do get some pretty  landscape shots and the obligatory <span style="font-style: italic;">Magnificent Seven</span> homage for the most part the film looks quite dull and underwhelming (At least it wasn't in 3D though!).

In the end <span style="font-style: italic;">Cowboys & Aliens</span> should have been a fun ride, but it takes itself far too seriously and  has a story that really didn't need to involve aliens at all, which just  adds to the fact that it could have been an outright western, but  instead leaves you wanting.

Set in 1873 and the wilds of Arizona, a stranger rides into the little  mining town of absolution. He has been shot, lost his memory and is a  wanted man for a list of crimes longer than his arm, on said arm is a  rather out of place piece of equipment. Unbeknownst to him, he was  abducted by aliens, a notion far removed from any of the other  townsfolk, that is, until it starts happening to them. You see  it turns  out an alien race has set its sights on the gold in them thar hills and  will do just about anything to make sure they get it all and in the  process wipe out man kind.

With the help of rag-tag team of local townsfolk and the stolen  piece of alien tech attached to his arm, our intrepid abductee heads out  to reclaim the captured humans and put a stop to the dastardly plan of  beings from another world.

I guess my biggest problem with the film was my expectation, its not like you go into a movie like /</gispan style="font-style: italic;"/>/giSnakes on a Plane</span> expecting to see anything less than some snakes on a plane and whilst  cowboys and aliens certainly do appear on the screen and even in the  same shot, the film just doesn’t live up to the mental image you have  just by saying the title aloud.

The film had so much potential and features a great cast including  Harrison Ford, Daniel Craig, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell and many TV  stalwarts and yet they are given very little to work with! I don't think  Jon Favreau really knew if he was making a western or a sci fi as the  look of the film kind of fails at both.  Whilst we do get some pretty  landscape shots and the obligatory <span style="font-style: italic;">Magnificent Seven</span> homage for the most part the film looks quite dull and underwhelming (At least it wasn't in 3D though!).

In the end <span style="font-style: italic;">Cowboys & Aliens</span> should have been a fun ride, but it takes itself far too seriously and  has a story that really didn't need to involve aliens at all, which just  adds to the fact that it could have been an outright western, but  instead leaves you wanting.