Review of Cowboys & Aliens (2011) by Mnanda — 29 Jul 2011

Meh. Despite a cool idea, great cast, and solid creative team, C&A is mostly just really loud and boring. It feels like the writers really don't know or like Westerns very much - the Western elements are just a xerox of a xerox... and actually so do the alien elements, right down to the alien design. There's nothing clever here - rules set up are quickly broken when convenient. Some aliens need to be shot 5 to 10 times before they die, others can be stabbed with a single knife. Worst of all, the movie starts with Craig in possession of a crucial alien weapon - the ultimate deus ex macchina, and it shows up in the first shot.

I was really tempted to walk out and kinda wish I had. A big problem is the movie's resistance to having a real bonafide hero at the center. Both Craig and Ford play typical Western bad guys (thief & rancher respectively) as opposed to a classic sheriff type. No one has anything to prove or need to change.