Cowboys & Aliens

Unfortunately, I think I’ve finally reached the level of oversaturation with alien invasion movies this year. It’s strange that this happened now because Cowboys & Aliens is one of the most unique and interesting concepts to feature the green men this year. But my qualms with Hollywood tendencies aside, this is a fun summer movie. The plot follows Daniel Craig as the proverbial “man with no name,” who wakes up in the desert with no memory. Then when aliens attack the nearby town he realizes that a strange shackle attached to his arm is a weapon with the power to kill them. So he sets off to free the citizens that were abducted by the intruders. Craig’s character is joined by a geeky Sam Rockwell, a seemingly out of place Olivia Wilde and a gruff Harrison Ford, who all fit the western archetypes that fans of the genre are used to.

With such well-known actors the performance level is understandably high. Craig and Wilde are two of the more entertaining players in the movie, but post Civil War Americans have never looked so European before. Wilde may be from the U.S, but she also lived in Tron, so what does that say about her look? Rockwell helps ground the action with his down to Earth role. There’s no denying he is underutilized though. Then there’s the godfather of blockbuster movies, Harrison Ford. Not much is asked from him until the end of the film, but even though his character is essentially a one-dimensional jerk, man does he play a good jerk. Ford seems to finally have a role that fits his current age and status, instead of attempting to recreate his past successes.

The repetitive nature of the story, which has too many abduction scenes and gun fights, weighs down Cowboys & Aliens. The fact that the leads continually encounter large groups of disposable characters acts as an indicator that the aliens are coming and will abduct a good number of those extras/stuntmen. Even though it’s a fun film to watch, the lack of iconic imagery and slow pacing will likely render it forgettable after its initial run. But it’s quite likely that one day I’m going to look back and say, “Remember that movie where James Bond was a cowboy and fought aliens?” File it under 007 actor side projects… right next to Mrs. Doubtfire. (7.0 out of 10)