Cowboys & Aliens Review

Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford along with a lot of cowboys in Cowboys and Aliens

Cowboys & Aliens

B

A Review by Frederick Cholowski

What happens when you try to mix a western and a sci-fi film together? You get Cowboys and Aliens, a film that tries to bring out the best of both genres. The question is how well does it succeed. While Cowboys and Aliens may have some flaws it’s a fun, solid summer action film.

The plot begins when Jake Lonergan (Daniel Craig) finds himself in the American west, in the middle of nowhere, and with a funky bracelet firmly attached to his right hand. He soon finds himself in trouble with both the local law and with the town cattle provider Cornel Woodrow Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford). Then Aliens show up. This changes everything as now the whole west must work together to stop the evil beings.

Storytelling here is surprisingly strong for this kind of film. The problem is the tone. This film attempts to be dark and compelling when in truth there’s not enough material to push the film forwards. While there are some solid thematic moments it lacks the characters to really get behind. There is the gritty old guy and the hulking hero and some more caricatures in between but again no one I really connected to. Also when it tries to have those “trying to be dark and compelling moments” it drags the film down making the 118 minutes feel a little long.

Acting is solid across the board. Daniel Craig channels a little Bond here as the outlay Lonergan. While he doesn’t say much he dose do a solid job in this film as the hero, who just like the rest of us is trying to find out what the heck is going on. Harrison Ford is awesome as the old grisly Dolarnyde. He truly has a little fun with the role and it shows as I was having fun with him. Olivia Wilde plays the townsfolk who likes to give out random information at random times (yes another one of those characters) and manages not to be annoying unlike Gemma Arterton in Clash of the Titans.

What truly takes the cake are the direction and the special effects. The whole film feels like an old western mixed with an Alien style sci-fi film. Got to hand it to Jon Favreau for setting the atmosphere right off the bat. As well the action set pieces shine with gorgeous cinematography and clean editing. I always knew what was going on at every second and never got thrown into a state of confusion or nausea. Finally the best thing about it all it’s not in 3D so no motion blurring or dull colors.

Cowboys and Aliens is good summer fun. While it doesn’t have enough dramatic material to justify the tone or the running time it still manages to entertain with great atmosphere and direction. With a summer full of 3D origin stories, sequels, and Transformers it’s nice to see something stepping out of the box and giving this summer a breath of fresh air.