Scott Mitchell Rosenberg's graphic novel series leaps to the screen as amnesiac gunslinger Jake Lonergan (Daniel Craig) stumbles into the Wild West town of Absolution, where he's confronted by potent enemy Col. Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford) and a terrifying problem: invading aliens. Aided by the lovely Ella (Olivia Wilde), Jake rallies a posse of the townspeople, Dolarhyde's minions and local Apache warriors to fight off the extraterrestrial threat.
The Western genre is riding a big wave of momentum; with True Grit and Rango earning huge dollars at the box office and even more on DVD and Blu-Ray, Cowboys and Aliens seemed to roll into theaters at the perfect time being a Western itself. Sadly the genre mash up with the introduction of aliens seemed to hamper what might have been a great western had it been the sole focus during its runtime. Instead we are just left with a tired and oversaturated alien invasion flick that will leave you thinking how much potential it ended up wasting. Disappointing, yet entertaining are the only thought that comes to mind.
The first 45 minutes or so is really well done; I’d even say it was great. Jake Lonergan awakens in the middle of the desert with a strange device strapped to his arm. Along come some bandits and he takes them out Bond style. Everything about this guy is a mystery that instantly hooks you in. It becomes even more appealing when he’s taken to jail for being a vicious criminal, then all hell breaks loose when alien ships attack and snatch people from the ground. The device triggers into a weapon and he’s able to destroy the ships in seconds. Who the hell is this guy? Where did he come from? It’s a great start creating an iconic character, but as the mystery unravels, things start to become exactly what you thought, giving a very anti-climactic feeling to the tale of Jake Lonergan. That mystery unwinds due to its terrible mix in with science fiction elements. Outside of great looking effects and a very different appearance on the aliens, a lot of it feels messy, pointless, and cheesy. Nothing is really revealed about the aliens except a terrible reasoning for actually being here on earth and it still never gives you the full answers. It’s frustrating to watch because when they are riding on horseback, tracking the aliens back to their base across wide plains and canyons, it feels like your actually watching something special, but just about any time the aliens came on screen, all you get is rushed plot points. The aliens didn’t seem to have the big effect on the film as they would have hoped. With the way the characters first reacted, you’d thought this was just another common alien attack.
Daniel Craig as Jake Lonergan is good. He says a lot without saying much, and adds a lot of intensity to the role and hides a mysterious past very well. He feels very similar to James Bond just dropped into a western setting. As for the rest of the cast, they are merely forgettable. They seemed to hire a lot of familiar faces, some big, some small, they aren’t given much time to do much of anything. They are either forced into the back ground or filled with a slew of clichés that you can instantly see coming the moment you meet them. This seemed to be one of the films biggest flaws. Outside of Daniel Craig, you didn’t care what would happen to any other character, which just makes some of the interactions with these characters seem bland and boring.
It’s hard to believe that a film that is actually entertaining can be such a major disappointment, but all that potential it built up pre-release is for nothing. It’s a very standard invasion flick that starts off special and just fizzles into a clichéd story and character paths. If you were originally pumped to see the film, try and get those expectations down because the only real way to walk out not feeling dissatisfied is walking in knowing that it’s nothing special. It’s just a fun little experiment that failed more than it succeeded.
Overall Score: 6.5/10
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