Cowboys & Aliens

Having seen the trailers, I was really looking forward to this movie. And now that I have seen it, I can honestly say that I wasn't disappointed. However, the concept of cowboys and aliens thrown together into one pot still does seem a bit odd to me.

The story in "Cowboys & Aliens" is pretty easy to follow; Jake Lonergan finds himself without his memory and a pretty neat-looking bracelet around his wrist. Thrown into a desperate fight against a far superior species, Jake, the people of Absolution and the native Americans find themselves in a showdown for supremacy.

I must admit that the story is fairly much on the 'no-brainer' side of the storyboard. This is the type of movie where you can switch off your brain and just run on the adrenaline alone. There is action from the start of the movie and right up to the end of it. The fight scenes were really nice to look at, lots of guns blazing (both archaic and future guns), explosions and in-your-face action scenes.

The movie is making good use of make-up effects and CGI effects. The aliens look awesome, and they look so life-like that it is bordering on being too real. Thumbs way up for the effects team on "Cowboys & Aliens", they sure did a great job.

As for the cast, then I think they got a good group of people together for the movie. And I must say that Daniel Craig (playing Jake Lonergan) is more cut out for something like this, rather than playing James Bond. And it was really good to see Harrison Ford (playing Woodrow Dolarhyde) in this movie. He is in top shape here and putting on a really good performance, both in acting and action scenes.

"Cowboys & Aliens" is a good movie for an evening of mindless action entertainment. If not for the action sequences, then for the effects and CGI. Compared to some of the recent movies that make heavy use of CGI effects, "Cowboys & Aliens" came off as more than just a shallow story trying to stay afloat by effects alone.

I see no way possible of giving this movie under a 7. I read other people talking about the actors seeming bored and I finally see it and I don't see that at all. I guess the story was kinda random but a lot of it made sense. The cast was great and the acting was great. If you are looking for a Jon Favorue or however you spell it, this didn't seem like it, but it was still really good. If you enjoy movies involving the old west, which have been popping up, and you like sci-fi this is good for either of you. The trailers didn't give a lot away so a lot of things are discovered in the movie that you were not expecting. All in all, the story was probably a 7/10, the acting a 9/10, and the cast a 9/10. I give this movie an 8/10 and hope to see more movies like this.

I greatly appreciate the ambition of what this movie wanted to be. A mix of two genres that couldn't be more different makes for a rare unpredictability that carries throughout the movie. On that front, the movie shines with a stellar cast and the character depth your expect to find in a classic western. The circumstantial melding of enemies really carries the film.

The wasted potential comes in the form of an unimaginative, mindless monster alien race that doesn't match the depth of the western characters, instead acting as little more than a plot device. I can see why it wanted to avoid becoming too silly, but I feel like there was more middle ground to lean into the absurdity of the premise without sacrificing the tone. The elements are there to make it work, but Favreau chose to play it safe with monsters. I respect that, but I found myself wanting it to realize its potential for a Woody and Buzz level blending of two worlds.

Would love to see the idea rebooted or expanded. In some ways I feel it's a victim of the time it came out in 2011 right in the upswing of the superhero wave. Parts of the movie, especially the VFX-heavy battle scenes, feel like it's trying to compete with those movies when it could have been something entirely unique.

What can I say? An average 6.0 rating is undeserved. This is a great movie, imaginative, exciting, fun and not filled with the usual cliches. The acting is marvellous from the entire cast, the effects are pretty good. It's well thought out and believable, I end up watching it every time it turns up on TV now. There is the right amount of bloodshed and violence, not over the top and no silly side love story to slow the pace down. I would recommend this movie.

Cowboys & Aliens is a testament to how quickly the medium of cinema shifts because this would never be made now. A genre bending blockbuster that's unlike anything else even if it's still based on existing IP. It doesn't entirely cohere and is way more self serious than you'd expect this concept to be but the collision of a western and science fiction keeps it entertaining.

Daniel Craig was born to play a man with no name. The strong silent type is a natural fit for him and considering the overly serious tone, his performance makes for the ideal lead. As a gruff rancher with a heart of gold, Harrison Ford is also playing squarely to his strengths and Olivia Wilde does her best with the weakest character who the script completely mishandled.

Jon Favreau's direction struggles with the logistics of staging action involving cowboys, aliens and spaceships but he's really good at using the cinematic language of the western. In that first half hour, the film commits wholeheartedly to being a stereotypical western which makes the hard pivot into sci-fi (and a pretty nasty one at that) all the more effective.