Directed by: Jon Favreau
Starring: Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, and Olivia Wilde
Reviewer: Brett Gallman
Reviewer's Rating: **½ (Two and a half Stars)
The old frontier meets the final frontier in this unlikely cinematic mash-up (though is anything really all that unlikely anymore in a post-modern world insistent on slapping everything together?) that finds Daniel Craig as a typical stranger (he even has no name until it pops up on a wanted poster) in a desolate Western town that is suddenly besieged by aliens; this forces him to band with the townspeople, which include a local cattle-driver (Harrison Ford) and the beautiful Ella (Olivia Wilde). I’d say that sparks fly, but they really don’t, at least not on all cylinders. Despite having a lot going for it (a great cast, an interesting premise, and slick production values), Cowboys & Aliens feels like a car that’s stuck in third gear. It shows occasional glimpses of brilliance with some clever, witty interactions between the cast (particularly Clancy Brown and Sam Rockwell, who actually manage to outshine the more famous leads), but it never sustains momentum.
A lot of this is due to a narrative that somehow manages to be overwrought despite the film’s cheeky, direct title; this is not to say the film doesn’t deliver its titular conflict--it does so, albeit not in awe-inspiring fashion. It’s a total mismatch, of course, but the humans have the secret weapon of a lazy script on their side--we’re told they have an advantage simply because their extraterrestrial counterparts are arrogant and won’t bother to defend themselves. But before we get to there, we slog through some usual Western tropes--outlaws, Indians, etc., all while piecing together bits of Craig’s previous close encounter with the alien menace (which left him without a memory--there was a girl in his past, as well as some misdeeds).
Jon Favreau usually makes very fun, energetic movies, but this isn’t one, at least not for most of its running time. There is an admitted appeal to seeing our current James Bond team up with the legendary Ford (who is actually quite nicely invested in the proceedings). However, even this is emblematic of the film as a whole, which seems content to coast on throwing disparate things together and call it a day.
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