FILM: COWBOYS & ALIENS – FREELANCE CORRESPONDENT
Review By James Mason
Director: Jon Favreau
Cast: Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell
Synopsis: 1873. Arizona Territory. A stranger (Craig) 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, he realizes he holds a secret that could give the town a fighting chance against the alien force. With the help of the elusive traveler Ella (Olivia Wilde), he pulls together a posse comprised of former opponents–townsfolk, Dolarhyde and his boys, outlaws and Apache warriors–all in danger of annihilation. United against a common enemy, they will prepare for an epic showdown for survival.
Review:
Based on a 2000 comic book series. Cowboys and Aliens was a mad concept but at least the mash-up was a novel idea. Getting the attention of heavyweights like Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard and Grazer gives you an idea of how alluring and exciting a project that had cowboys duking it out with unfriendly ET’s.
Does this make for an exciting movie? Read on my good friend, read on.
In order to get the general public to buy into one of the crazier concepts out there, the writers make the film more western than alien flick. You have all the stock characters of that genre. A man with no-name (at least in the beginning) a rancher who’s one mean son of a gun, an honourable yet compromised sheriff and a mysterious woman. Thankfully all these characters are being played by extremely solid character actors.
Daniel Craig playing the man who can’t remember his name or why there’s a strange bracelet attached to his wrist, does a fine job of playing a man who doesn’t shy away from a fight but doesn’t go looking for one. He brings a brooding intensity that works well for the character he’s playing.
Harrison Ford hasn’t been this awake in a film for a very long time. It’s great to see an energised Ford playing an ambiguous yet closer to a villain role. His introduction show just how ruthless the “General” is. Ruthless but kick ass and it’s done in a non-showy and economical way.
Playing the mysterious woman whose backstory isn’t as mysterious as the writers think (it was written by the people who wrote the first two Transformers films) is Olivia Wilde. A stunning looking woman who does have some acting ability but in this film just has to stare and Craig and look curious.
Sam Rockwell as “The Doc” does have some nice character moments and Keith Carradine’s sheriff has a quickly sketched good man whose hands are tied by the real power of the town. Clancy Brown effortlessly portray’s the town’s preacher as a man of faith and action. Essentially even down to the minor, minor parts the casting people have picked actors that are perfectly suited and kudos to the team.
Jon Favreau and his cinematographer have put together a gorgeous looking film that John Ford would be proud of. Especially for the first act, I’m not sure what he’d make of the aliens turning up and blowing stuff up, they even blow up cattle at the start. Favreau manages to marry the two very disparate genres with skill and aplomb.
Having such a insane pairing of film subjects should have made for a film that should be a lot more fun. Don’t get me wrong the film is fun but it could’ve been more so. The script and direction get the western tropes so perfectly that the humour is diminished somewhat. There are a few damn funny moments but there could’ve been a peppering of some more.
4 stars for a 3 ½ star film because Harrison Ford gets a ½ one for making an effort.
