Well I'm gonna come out and say...I think this was the best concept for a fun and exciting summer blockbuster ever!!!!
and it is the SECOND BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT OF THE SUMMER...
The first being Green Lantern.
Now lets have another set of words from Colin Eden. "it just doesn't make sense having cowboys fight aliens. They having nothing to do with each other. It just sounds stupid." A little paraphrasing but it was the gist of what he had to say when he first saw the trailers. He is just as wrong then as he is now. The concept is awesome.I'm an 18year old in the age of the internet so regularly am I asked which is cooler Dinosaurs or Robots, who would win in a fight ninja vs pirates, which warrior is deadliest George Washington or Napolean. Stupid and vapid as these hypothetical conflicts they do have one thing going for them and that is fun. The idea of two cool but unlike things fighting is always good way to entertain the mind and stretch your imagination. Its like playing with your action figures when your young and having a green ranger figure ride Godzilla and stomp on green army men while lighting off firecrackers. Does that whole battle make any sense no, but was that the most fun you had with afternoon, yes. And that's the thought that went into the creation of Rosenberg's 2006 graphic novel on which the movie was based upon. It wasn't going for no message or idea, it was just a fun action ride to see to awesome things duke it out.
Having read the graphic novel, I can say that I recommend it more than the film. Both have week stories but at least with the comic some of the more glaring problems from the film can be rectified and if not its just a fun read if your at your Barnes and Noble with nothing to do.
But back to the movie. Daniel Craig plays an unknown loner who wakes up in the middle of the desert with no memory past waking up and a mysterious gauntlet on his wrist. After causing a ruckus in a small town he is being hauled off to face charges by Colonel Woodrow Dolarhyde as played by Harrison Ford. when the titular extraterrestrials show up to cause some mayhem. After abducting most of the town its up to Craig and Ford to lead a search for the them and contend with the invaders.
Now that sounds like an interesting and fun movie but its not let me break it down. The major problem is how it is directed. No criticism against the whole works of Jon Favereau, he made Iron Man for goodness sake. But this movie has very little life to it. It tries to blend the idea of aliens and the western in a much more subtle and slow manner as a suspense tool, but here's the thing...its called Cowboys and Aliens! I can appreciate the effort but I'm here for what the title says and there is no mystery because the title tells us all we need. The film spends either spends to much time building up to the actual alien attacks but they come way to fast to feel any enjoyment for them. The action scenes are nothing to write home about. They come and go but nothing a huge importance happens. Watch the trailer and you get all the excitement of the those scenes which for what they are about, ie cowboys fighting aliens, they are unremarkable and dull. With no signature kills, exciting special effect shots or crowning moments of awesome. The Pace is just horrendous with no singular moments that feel fresh or original, and takes way to much time to build up things that ultimately don't satisfy
The scenes in between action sequences all the same their small character building exercises but all the characters are cliche. You got the kid who lost his only remaining family member, the ex-outlaw with no name, the grizzled old soldier bitter at the world, the adopted injun who only wants to be excepted, the doctor standing up to be a warrior and the priest who is more down to earth than in the heavens above. And each of their arcs are predictable but at least they have arcs. But these quiet moments really break mood with the fast and frenetic alien encounters and they bring up the biggest upset of the film...Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford bring terrible performances. I think it was mostly the script's fault. Craig's character of the amnesiac abductee is flat and uninteresting. The film plays keep away with his past as if it is important but its nothing you haven't seen nor anything you couldn't guess already. His performance is understated and cold which would work in a straight western but in a proposed boisterous action film he is not convincing as the action hero lead which makes scenes with him arduous and disappointing do to his history of both fun and action leads. Even worse a s the main hero of the story about ninety percent of the action is given to him which just brings out the fact that he is so one dimensional. Harison Ford is at least somewhat more lively, but as stated above, like all the other characters he is cliched and predictably developed. Both of them have some interesting back and forth along with some pretty good chemistry but they are often not on screen and if they are its the solo act for Daniel Craig which as stated before is wasting our time. Olivia Wilde's character is the worst of them all. She seems completely out of place, which in context makes sense, and she attempts to subvert the useless female trope found in westerns but ends up being a distressed damsel. She has no character at all other than being another mystery to be solved which if you're just looking at one scene with her you can already guess the mystery.
Another problem is an incredibly forgettable soundtrack. For something call cowboys and aliens you'd think they throw in some spaghetti western riffs or some kind of symphonic beats that would help blend the tones and show some genuine creativity but most of the film is pretty silents which once again kills the supposedly fun atmosphere for this end of summer blockbuster.
The problem of the film is luckily limited to the story, soundtrack and characters. The scenery and sets are very well shot and themselves spectacular. With soaring vistas and interestingly off putting locals that are regrettably underused. The aliens though generic at least are somewhat cool along with their scout ships and wrist weapons that are interesting and have functionality. Their main command ship looked perfect as a no nonsense functional space craft that fits for the species flying it and has no unnecessary elements to make it look scary but rather normal looking except upon further examination. But these good parts are only noticable because the film is no fun. And that's what a movie called cowboys and aliens should be...FUN!
I give cowboys and aliens a 3 out of 5 its not terrible, just disappointing and not really fun but definitely passable. See you in Brighter Days.
and it is the SECOND BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT OF THE SUMMER...
The first being Green Lantern.
Now lets have another set of words from Colin Eden. "it just doesn't make sense having cowboys fight aliens. They having nothing to do with each other. It just sounds stupid." A little paraphrasing but it was the gist of what he had to say when he first saw the trailers. He is just as wrong then as he is now. The concept is awesome.I'm an 18year old in the age of the internet so regularly am I asked which is cooler Dinosaurs or Robots, who would win in a fight ninja vs pirates, which warrior is deadliest George Washington or Napolean. Stupid and vapid as these hypothetical conflicts they do have one thing going for them and that is fun. The idea of two cool but unlike things fighting is always good way to entertain the mind and stretch your imagination. Its like playing with your action figures when your young and having a green ranger figure ride Godzilla and stomp on green army men while lighting off firecrackers. Does that whole battle make any sense no, but was that the most fun you had with afternoon, yes. And that's the thought that went into the creation of Rosenberg's 2006 graphic novel on which the movie was based upon. It wasn't going for no message or idea, it was just a fun action ride to see to awesome things duke it out.
Having read the graphic novel, I can say that I recommend it more than the film. Both have week stories but at least with the comic some of the more glaring problems from the film can be rectified and if not its just a fun read if your at your Barnes and Noble with nothing to do.
But back to the movie. Daniel Craig plays an unknown loner who wakes up in the middle of the desert with no memory past waking up and a mysterious gauntlet on his wrist. After causing a ruckus in a small town he is being hauled off to face charges by Colonel Woodrow Dolarhyde as played by Harrison Ford. when the titular extraterrestrials show up to cause some mayhem. After abducting most of the town its up to Craig and Ford to lead a search for the them and contend with the invaders.
Now that sounds like an interesting and fun movie but its not let me break it down. The major problem is how it is directed. No criticism against the whole works of Jon Favereau, he made Iron Man for goodness sake. But this movie has very little life to it. It tries to blend the idea of aliens and the western in a much more subtle and slow manner as a suspense tool, but here's the thing...its called Cowboys and Aliens! I can appreciate the effort but I'm here for what the title says and there is no mystery because the title tells us all we need. The film spends either spends to much time building up to the actual alien attacks but they come way to fast to feel any enjoyment for them. The action scenes are nothing to write home about. They come and go but nothing a huge importance happens. Watch the trailer and you get all the excitement of the those scenes which for what they are about, ie cowboys fighting aliens, they are unremarkable and dull. With no signature kills, exciting special effect shots or crowning moments of awesome. The Pace is just horrendous with no singular moments that feel fresh or original, and takes way to much time to build up things that ultimately don't satisfy
The scenes in between action sequences all the same their small character building exercises but all the characters are cliche. You got the kid who lost his only remaining family member, the ex-outlaw with no name, the grizzled old soldier bitter at the world, the adopted injun who only wants to be excepted, the doctor standing up to be a warrior and the priest who is more down to earth than in the heavens above. And each of their arcs are predictable but at least they have arcs. But these quiet moments really break mood with the fast and frenetic alien encounters and they bring up the biggest upset of the film...Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford bring terrible performances. I think it was mostly the script's fault. Craig's character of the amnesiac abductee is flat and uninteresting. The film plays keep away with his past as if it is important but its nothing you haven't seen nor anything you couldn't guess already. His performance is understated and cold which would work in a straight western but in a proposed boisterous action film he is not convincing as the action hero lead which makes scenes with him arduous and disappointing do to his history of both fun and action leads. Even worse a s the main hero of the story about ninety percent of the action is given to him which just brings out the fact that he is so one dimensional. Harison Ford is at least somewhat more lively, but as stated above, like all the other characters he is cliched and predictably developed. Both of them have some interesting back and forth along with some pretty good chemistry but they are often not on screen and if they are its the solo act for Daniel Craig which as stated before is wasting our time. Olivia Wilde's character is the worst of them all. She seems completely out of place, which in context makes sense, and she attempts to subvert the useless female trope found in westerns but ends up being a distressed damsel. She has no character at all other than being another mystery to be solved which if you're just looking at one scene with her you can already guess the mystery.
Another problem is an incredibly forgettable soundtrack. For something call cowboys and aliens you'd think they throw in some spaghetti western riffs or some kind of symphonic beats that would help blend the tones and show some genuine creativity but most of the film is pretty silents which once again kills the supposedly fun atmosphere for this end of summer blockbuster.
The problem of the film is luckily limited to the story, soundtrack and characters. The scenery and sets are very well shot and themselves spectacular. With soaring vistas and interestingly off putting locals that are regrettably underused. The aliens though generic at least are somewhat cool along with their scout ships and wrist weapons that are interesting and have functionality. Their main command ship looked perfect as a no nonsense functional space craft that fits for the species flying it and has no unnecessary elements to make it look scary but rather normal looking except upon further examination. But these good parts are only noticable because the film is no fun. And that's what a movie called cowboys and aliens should be...FUN!
I give cowboys and aliens a 3 out of 5 its not terrible, just disappointing and not really fun but definitely passable. See you in Brighter Days.
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