Cowboys & Aliens

Welcome to another episode Lights....Camera....Popcorn!

Today's review is Cowboys & Aliens.

Directed by John Favreau.

Written by Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Damon Lindelof, Mark Fergus & Hawk Otsby.

Screen Story by Mark Fergus, Hawk Otsby and Steve Oedekerk.

Based on the Platimun Studios Comic Book Cowboys & Aliens created by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg.

Review #130

MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of western and sci-fi action and violence, some partial nudity and a brief crude reference.

Runtime: 118 min

Cast

Daniel Craig ... Jake Lonergan

Harrison Ford ... Woodrow Dolarhyde

Walton Goggins ... Hunt

Abigail Spencer ... Alice

Buck Taylor ... Wes Claiborne

Matthew Taylor ... Luke Claiborne

Clancy Brown ... Meacham

Paul Dano ... Percy Dolarhyde

Chris Browning ... Jed Parker

Adam Beach ... Nat Colorado

Sam Rockwell ... Doc

Ana de la Reguera ... Maria

Noah Ringer ... Emmett Taggart

Brian Duffy ... Deputy

Olivia Wilde ... Ella Swenson

Keith Carradine ... Sheriff John Taggart

I can imagine what you must be thinking about this film. Aliens invading the wild west??? Well before you pass judgement allow me to toss a couple of nuggets at you.

1) Cowboys & Aliens is based on a comic book/graphic novel. So right there the rules of reality don't apply.

2) Chew on this one. We have all seen alien invasion films before. Independence Day, War of the Worlds, The Day The Earth Stood Still, Battle Los Angeles and Mars Attacks. At the very outset of those films we accepted the plausibility of aliens attacking our world. Why? Because those films were all shown in present day earth or the not too distant future. They were relate able because they took place in a time or place we can all identify. So if that's the thinking of us as an audience, why is it impossible to believe or accept that aliens can't invade another period of history, like the wild west. Now having said that, the blending of genres have to mesh well.

Do they???? Not a snow ball's chance in hell.

Plot


The Old West.. where a lone cowboy leads an uprising against a terror from beyond our world. 1873. Arizona Territory. A stranger 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.

The biggest problem with this one is the pacing between the wild west and sci fi genres. The first act of the film is a GREAT western. And I HATE westerns. In fact it plays like what a Red Dead Redemption live action film would be. That's a video game by the way and a story that should be brought to celluloid. OK, back on topic. Then the film loses it's ground after the aliens attack. The story becomes very disjointed and underdeveloped. The mystery around Daniel Craig's character plays very well and is cleverly sprinkled throughout the film. You get glimpses of his plight and how he lost his memory and got the bracelet attached to his arm.

Aside from that the character development is a big fat GOOSE EGG! People are being killed and abducted and I couldn't care less. This is a fundamental RULE for films of this ilk. An alien invasion film can't and doesn't work if you care more about the aliens success than the fight in the human race. You MUST be able to care about these people. Cowboys & Aliens failed MISERABLY at this. The end result is even more tragic to the narrative. Due to my apathy towards the cast I couldn't accept the genre splice.

Normally for a film like this I would comment on the special effects but why should I? I've seen much much better. The aliens in this film were not scary. In fact they resembled the alien in Super 8. This is something that has been plaguing alien films since the introduction to the MASTER of alien creature design.

H.R. Giger.

He is the man who created the xenomorphs that scared the holy hell out if us in the Alien quadrilogy. Those creatures are the EPITOME of what an alien should look like. Don't agree? Find another alien that you saw in a film that scared you more if you were Ripley in that dark space ship searching for a way out. Maybe and this is a BIG maybe, the Predator comes to the fore front but he wasn't a sleek, hide in the corner and jump out at you alien. He was more brutish and sophisticated with superior technology. As a result, all other alien films have taken a step back to the wizard of deep space monsters.

Unfortunately it didn't matter what the creatures looked like. It wasn't going to save this aimless, poorly thought out effort.

Bad Jon Favreau! Bad! Bad! Jon Favreau! Stick to the man in the iron suit.

On the 5 star scale. Cowboys & Aliens gets .5 stars with a "Save the Loot" recommendation.

That's a wrap for today. Up next is Rise of The Planet of The Apes.

Until next episode...."I'll Save You A Seat!"

"D"