Directed by Jon Favreau
Starring: Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford and Olivia Wilde
Cowboys & Aliens(2011)
What’s It About?
IMDB says: “A spaceship arrives in Arizona, 1873, to take over the Earth, starting with the Wild West region. A posse of cowboys are all that stand in their way.“
What We Thought:
What We Thought:
Nick: I was really looking forward to Cowboys & Aliens. Getting a free advanced screening was even better. But when you have a movie directed by Jon Favreau, produced by Steven Spielberg, Brian Grazer, AND Ron Howard, a writing credit to Damon Lindelof (I’m a LOST fanatic so I see that as a positive), AND starring Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Sam Rockwell, Paul Dano and Olivia Wilde, your expectations are high. If you can’t guess already, this movie was a disappointment.
The story is about Daniel Craig’s character that wakes up in the middle of the desert (clothed, this isn’t Terminator) and discovers he can’t remember anything, but he sure can kick some ass. He strolls into town and his presence is felt when he crosses the path of Woodrow Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford), but somehow these two already know each other. The mystery and intrigue are put on pause when aliens invade and start snatching up the townsfolk. Normally this is something you’d find out of a movie in the bottom of the five-dollar bin at Wal-Mart or even something produced and released by The Asylum. But I will give credit to Favreau and the cast because they make it nearly believable. As great a performance as the cast gives, they can’t save the movie. There was not a single point in the film where I cared who Daniel Craig’s character was OR if they even find the other towns folks. The film drags at points and the soundtrack felt uninspired and stale.
There are a few redeeming moments in the film which make it worth watching. It looks great. The effects are on point, the sets are fantastic, and the cinematography is beautiful. In the beginning of the film when we first get the hint of an invasion there are explosions. But rather than show the explosions, we see reaction shots of a minor character that has fallen into a riverbed. We don’t see the explosions; only the devastation of the attack and it leaves out minds to wonder what exactly just happened. It’s enough to keep you interested in a movie that does everything to keep you out. Despite how bad ass Daniel Craig is in this film, skip this while it’s in theaters as you wait for it to come out to your local Blockbuster (if you still have one) or your Netflix account (if you still have one)
The story is about Daniel Craig’s character that wakes up in the middle of the desert (clothed, this isn’t Terminator) and discovers he can’t remember anything, but he sure can kick some ass. He strolls into town and his presence is felt when he crosses the path of Woodrow Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford), but somehow these two already know each other. The mystery and intrigue are put on pause when aliens invade and start snatching up the townsfolk. Normally this is something you’d find out of a movie in the bottom of the five-dollar bin at Wal-Mart or even something produced and released by The Asylum. But I will give credit to Favreau and the cast because they make it nearly believable. As great a performance as the cast gives, they can’t save the movie. There was not a single point in the film where I cared who Daniel Craig’s character was OR if they even find the other towns folks. The film drags at points and the soundtrack felt uninspired and stale.
There are a few redeeming moments in the film which make it worth watching. It looks great. The effects are on point, the sets are fantastic, and the cinematography is beautiful. In the beginning of the film when we first get the hint of an invasion there are explosions. But rather than show the explosions, we see reaction shots of a minor character that has fallen into a riverbed. We don’t see the explosions; only the devastation of the attack and it leaves out minds to wonder what exactly just happened. It’s enough to keep you interested in a movie that does everything to keep you out. Despite how bad ass Daniel Craig is in this film, skip this while it’s in theaters as you wait for it to come out to your local Blockbuster (if you still have one) or your Netflix account (if you still have one)
FTS SCORE:
55%
40-60% = Average movie. Contained some flaws but wasn’t unwatchable. Couldn’t get into the movie but wasn’t offended.