Cowboys & Aliens

[4.0
stars] [IMDb Link]

[Amazon Link]
(paid link)

There seems to be an intensely bi-modal affection distribution for this flick. Or: people either love it or hate it. I was willing to bet that given (1) cowboys, (2) aliens, (3) Harrison Ford, and (4) Daniel Craig, I would be in the former group, so we set out on a rare expedition to a theatre.

(Where we live, we pretty much have a choice between the Expensive Theatre and the Cheap Theatre. We splurged on Expensive.)

Here's the story: Daniel Craig wakes up in the middle of nowhere, with most of his memory missing, but with an unexplained bracelet that he can't get off. It becomes apparent that he remembers how to defend himself, though, as he's near-immediately required to defeat a bunch of murderous scalp- and bounty-hunters. He makes his way to a small town, where he gets on the wrong side of a spoiled, violent brat who happens to be the son of an ill-tempered cattle magnate (that's Harrison Ford). But he catches the eye of a pistol-packing mysterious babe (Olivia Wilde).

And then the aliens show up in flying ray-gun-firing people-grabbers, causing destruction and chaos in their wake. The human adversaries put aside their petty disagreements to fight the alien menace. This all takes place before even H.G. Wells, so the humans are pretty confused, never having seen even fictional extraterrestrials.

I had a good time. In addition to the principals, there is a pretty good supporting cast, including Sam Rockwell, David Carradine, and Clancy Brown. The filmmakers were obviously trying to make a commercial summer blockbuster; the standard approach is to go Big, Loud, and Stupid. But they went the extra mile, giving sly respect to both genres they're pilfering, and provided three-dimensional characters. (In—yay—a 2-D movie.)


Last Modified 2024-01-28 2:30 PM EDT