Cowboys and Aliens is as awkward as its title. My first thought when I saw the preview was, "How are they going to make this work?" Well, it doesn't work. Despite Jon Favreau's collection of talented actors, which includes Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig, the director fails to combine the elements of the Western and science-fiction film, and instead creates a picture that falls short of both.
With a $163 million budget, Cowboys and Aliens is without doubt a huge production. A-list actors, CGI aliens and large-scale explosions are among a few of the obvious signs of a blockbuster budget.
The expensive movie magic and a talented cast, though, cannot make up for the fact that the story simply falls flat. The script is far from special, but the dialogue does not hurt the film; it is actually the plot line that leaves the audience wanting. The plot centers around Craig's character, Jake Lonergan, who cannot remember anything about himself when he wakes up in the brush with a bracelet on his arm, which turns out to be a powerful alien weapon. When he goes into town he is arrested because he is actually a wanted criminal. From there the story crashes and burns like the many UFOs in the film. Overflowing with details that only create more questions than answers, the movie leaves its audience begging for an eventual explanation, which lasts all of four minutes. Had Favreau focused less on making the alien attacks mysterious and dramatic and more on the form of his film, Cowboys and Aliens could have proved him a visionary. As it stands, Cowboys and Aliens looks a tad silly.
Credit must be given to the cast, who make this movie tolerable. Ford, who plays wealthy cattle baron Woodrow Dolarhyde, seems to be made for a Western and I can almost see him standing next to Clint Eastwood. Craig plays the mysterious outlaw Lonergan with precision and makes a worthy protagonist. As the predictable love interest, Olivia Wilde's character feels out of place in the plot, but she does her best with the role, resulting in a solid performance on her part.
After you manage to get past all the special effects and grandiose scenes, Cowboys and Aliens is an inharmonious combination of two very different worlds. The film is mildly entertaining and benefits from the talented cast and a director who knows how to shoot action sequences. Beyond these few perks and an enormous budget, however, Cowboys and Aliens is hardly better than made-for-TV fare.
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