Friday, August 26, 2011

"Cowboys & Aliens" [B]

Does what it says on the tin.

I was glad to see that this actually worked. I was really hoping that Jon Favreau, who did such a good job on Iron Man (and not too bad on the sequel) would be able to pull of this high-concept mash-up. But I was also fearing that it could go horribly wrong.

Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, and the other actors all bring life to their characters. The directing, as noted, is spot on. The special effects, including the creepy aliens, are up to par.

On the other hand, I was a bit disappointed in the whole bug-eyed monster approach. Sure, they're aliens, we don't really understand why or how they flew billions of miles across the galaxy to capture our kin and get our gold. But given that they did, I couldn't quite buy into the mindless kidnapper and killer vibe that they were given. It was a bit too retro. I fault the writing, which captured the Modernized Western genre just fine, but didn't do the aliens justice. It also made a muddle of the climax.

Even with its faults, I had a great time.

Cowboys & Aliens (IMDb)

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