Today I’ve decided to watch 2011’s “Cowboys & Aliens”, a comic based action-science fiction film starring Daniel Craig, Olivia Wilde, and Harrison Ford. When this was being marketed back in the day, I was pretty hyped to see this one. I never read the comic, but the “Sci-fi meets Old West” concept is something that is right down my alley. At this point, Daniel Craig was sufficiently established as James Bond, Harrison Ford seemed to be engaged for the first time in a decade of so, and Olivia Wilde was one of my favorite characters on House M.D. I was the target on this.
I didn’t get the chance to see it in theaters, but I rented it once it came out on DVD. I remember being somewhat disappointed, but the concept was still interesting enough for me to not be completely turned off to the film. I purchased the Blu-Ray used when i saw the chance, but I don’t think I ever sat down to watch it again. I plan to do that today. Here is the trailer for those of you who might not remember this one.
This movie is pretty disappointing. I definitely think this is a great concept, but the actual film itself is poorly executed. For a movie that should just be “what if aliens attacked in the Old West”, we get a bunch of overwrought plot points where Daniel Craig’s character starts to remember being abducted, his prostitute girlfriend being experimented on and killed, Olivia Wilde technically being an alien herself trying to warn earth, and how aliens are trying to mine the earth for gold because “its just as rare to them”. Also, apparently Daniel Craig can control this super-powered bracelet thingy, which is really the only way the humans have a chance. Everything just seems overbusy.
The cast is generally fine. Daniel Craig seems to be fighting his natural British accent the whole time and doesnt seem to be having much fun, but maybe that was a directorial choice. Harrison Ford seems to be down for riding around on horses and shooting monsters with revolvers, so that’s pretty fun to watch. Olivia Wilde generally acts with overwhelming intensity, and she does the same here. Honestly, I think the biggest issue with this movie is that the cast is playing an admittedly ludicrous concept far too seriously. If they all played this with a wink and a nod to the audience, I think it would be a lot more fun to watch.
The thing about this movie is that it should definitely be better. You have Jon Favreau directing this, and he definitely knows how to make fun action movies. You have Spielberg backing this up, and generally he is a good guy to have in your corner. And, I said this before… This is a movie about freaking aliens attacking cowboys. This should not be played so seriously. The movie isn’t horrible, but I feel like an original concept like this should’ve been relevant for a bit longer.
So, if I made this movie, how would I fix it? Lose the magic bracelet, make the aliens less powerful so revolvers actually do something, and tell a few jokes! How amazing would it have be to see Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig recreating “Magnificent Seven” with the aliens with ray guns attacking the town? Heck, you even have a few other good actors in here to fill out the crew… Sam Rockwell can throw some quips as the civilized doctor, Walton Goggins can do the drunk bit, Keith Carradine can do a the old stoic sheriff that can be played for laughs… Throw all those actors into a less serious movie than this, and you’d probably have something pretty special. You don’t even need to recast, just change the tone. I know there is source material here, but it did not translate well to screen and the filmmakers should’ve seen that well in advance.
I don’t have much more to say on this one. All in all, it isn’t awful, but its pretty forgettable. If we grade it out, I give it a B-. If you are bored one evening and want a popcorn movie that you can watch while you screw around on your phone, this movie works. You don’t have to watch it too closely, because you won’t really remember it within a week.
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