Review of Cowboys & Aliens (2011) by Marcdoyle — 28 Jul 2011

[Spoilers within...] I'm a big fan of westerns and of alien movies, but this particular combination of the two just didn't do it for me. What I like about westerns is feeling that hatred of the truly evil antagonist.

Harrison Ford initially assumes that role, which is difficult because we identify with him as the good guy in so many films. He eventually redeems himself and makes the good guy conversion. The aliens are not bad enough to make you hate them like you normally would a Western baddie.

They didn't engage me in the least. Not nearly as scary as the Alien creatures they looked a bit like. The use of Olivia Wilde was a little too "out there" for my liking. Her resurrection left my head spinning a bit.

The movie has some serious pacing problems toward the middle stretch. And the "explosion" at the end - was that meant to look like another very famous explosion from about 1986?? And if so, I'm a little confused about the purpose.

Anyway, I wanted to like this movie because Favreau is such a great movie guy and a solid director, but this material just didn't work. And Daniel Craig? Nope.