Review of Cowboys & Aliens (2011) by David A — 03 Jun 2013
Measured against its star power, this movie is a disappointment, but it is entertaining. Entertaining enough, anyway, that it really doesn't deserve to be 'rotten'. On the upside you have a well acted movie with a terrific cast, you have action and you have high production values, including good effects.
On the downside, the genre mashup idea is nerfed when the decision is made to present the aliens as monstrous brutes, instead of something more interesting. Everything else is written with an equal lack of subtlety, from the name of evil cattle rancher menacing the town ("Dolarhyde"?!) to the unsubtle foreshadowing in the name of the town ("we're on our way to Absolution") to the stock characters who inhabit it.
Everything unfolds by the numbers, with enough exposition and signposting to be sure that an eight year old can follow. It's a movie that doesn't really trust its audience, and I guess the reaction to that demonstrates that's a bad idea.
This review of Cowboys & Aliens (2011) was written by David A on 03 Jun 2013.
Cowboys & Aliens has generally received mixed reviews.
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