Cowboys & Aliens

Cowboys and Aliens I think starts out promising with the mashup of genres, but by the end, the cool stuff--cowboys and aliens--evolves into standard action picture.


Daniel Craig plays a typical western character, "the man with no name."  The reason for this is that he has lost his memory after a trauma, which we are shown in bits as pieces as the story evolves.  He enters a small town which is eventually beseiged by technologically advanced machines which kidnap with many of the townfolk, including the son of a local cattle baron known as the Colonel (Harrison Ford).  There is also a spunky woman with a mysterious past (Olivia Wilde).

The reason for the aliens being there is very lame which is a big letdown at the end where the humans find they have to work together against them. There is not enough real character development, as the three main roles played by Craig, Ford and Wilde and to a lesser degree Adam Beach as a native tracker who works for the Colonel, all have a past that need more exploring (although Craig as the main character has the most backstory).  What we are told of their histories have many interesting elements but only serve the plot rather than the character.

Other known actors, Paul Dano, Keith Carradine, Clancy Brown, Sam Rockwell, David O'Hara are underused in various degrees. Brown and O'Hara had the better and more realistic characters. Rockwell was so so, a little comic relief as the local saloon owner. Dano's character of the Colonel's son is a caricature, who turns unrealistically contrite at the end of the film.  Carradine is hardly used and for someone with a long acting career, it's a waste of his talent.

Craig and Wilde were fine in their roles, but I found Ford a little too old and stodgy to be in an action film anymore. 

Other than that the film was very loud, every explosion and gunshot was very "Hollywood" and didn't have a real feel. Punches to the body sounded like someone was using a sledgehammer on an oak door.  I think this film was a little too slick for my tastes.