Rating:  

Starring: Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, Paul Dano, Clancy Brown, Sam Rockwell, Adam Beach, Ana de la Reguera, Noah Ringer, Keith Carradine, David O’Hara, Brian Duffy, Walton Goggins.
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Director: Jon Favreau
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 118 Mins.
Release Date: July 29, 2011
Home Video Release Date: TBD
Box Office: $99.3 Million
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DreamWorks Pictures, Reliance Entertainment, Relativity Media, Imagine Entertainment, K/O Paper Products, Fairview Entertainment, Platinum Studios, and Universal Pictures.

Written by: Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, Damon Lindelof, Mark Fergus, and Hawk Ostby; Screen Story by Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, and Steve Oedekerk. Adapted from the graphic novel, “Cowboys and Aliens” by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg.

When you offer audiences a movie entitled “Cowboys and Aliens”, then it should not come as any surprise that viewers will likely expect something grandiose and over-the-top and fun. A movie called “Cowboys and Aliens” should exhibit a go-for-broke mentality, with wit, excitement, action, suspense and intrigue, and deliver a borderline gonzo night of entertainment at the multiplex of your choice. When you toss in Jon Favreau as director (Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Elf), and Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford in the leading roles, this should be so goofy that it finds a way to work. Unless of course they were to make the mistake of allowing their script and their film to take itself way too seriously. And to my utter dismay, “Cowboys and Aliens” takes itself way…way too seriously.

Modestly adapted from the 2006 graphic novel by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg, “Cowboys and Aliens” plays things straight for a little while. Set in 1873 in a dusty, dirty old Southwestern town known as Absolution, a man (Daniel Craig)awakens with a nasty wound in his gut and no memory of who he is or how he ended up unconscious in the hot desert sun. Almost immediately he notices a strange, heavy, metallic device on his left wrist and quickly figures out he cannot remove it. Dispatching some heavies that stumble upon him, we learn that the man is quite adept at fighting and vanquishing foes.As the man migrates into Absolution and encounters town locals, the man gets involved in another kerfuffle with Percy Dolarhyde (Paul Dano), the troublemaking son of the gruff and bitter retired cattle rancher, Woodrow Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford). The Sheriff of Absolution (Keith Carradine) recognizes the man as Jake Lonergan, a wanted criminal with a hefty reward available for his capture. After Percy’s careless actions result in his being arrested, the Sheriff eventually subdues Jake and throws him and Percy in the clink, with plans to transport them out of Absolution once and for all.

At nightfall, Woodrow arrives with a cavalry of stock caricatures from old Westerns of the past and as he demands the Sheriff release his son, something appears in the distant skies. Arriving closer and closer, no one has any clue what they are seeing until explosions decimate the town and insect-like ships snatch up people from the ground as if they were roping cattle. Absolution is under attack but from what? And why? And how? Quickly, Absolution residents realize their guns and horses stand little shot of defeating this bizarre and strange new enemy.

A posse of sorts is assembled, featuring various townsfolk and Woodrow, Lonergan, and the beautiful Ella Swenson (Olivia Wilde) who forces her way along for the ride. She is drawn to Jake and is seemingly more in tune with what is happening than others may be aware. Finding their way, this motley crew of sorts sets out to follow the distinctive tracks present in the dirt and hopefully put forth a plan to eradicate this threat from the sky once and for all.

I will give you this…”Cowboys and Aliens” is an ambitious idea; one which might as well have originated from a 4:00 a.m. brainstorm session with the assistance of excessive exhaustion and/or alcohol. The actual origins of the project date back to 1997 when Scott Mitchell Rosenberg saw his pitch receive a greenlight and get placed into development at DreamWorks and Universal Pictures. Directors and writers have come and gone but when the graphic novel was published in 2006, the film finally gained traction. Curiously, after all of this time and energy spent, Rosenberg’s source material seems to be manipulated so much that he does not receive a writing credit for the film adaptation of his own creation. He is credited with helping craft the story, but it appears that he likely lost input and control of this project a long time ago.

“Cowboys and Aliens” has no cohesiveness, no synergy between its competing genres. Daniel Craig is able-bodied but reduces his line readings to short, stunted utterances. His Jake Lonergan is a man with limitless fighting skill but only a surface-level ability in communicating. Harrison Ford is actually quite fun to watch playing the irascible and grumbly old cattle rancher, who gets the benefits of spitting hilarious one-liners which deliver the film’s only moments of lightheartedness. Olivia Wilde’s turn as the mysterious Ella is not bad, but as much as she tries to make us care about the only substantive female character in the film, she is betrayed by a screenplay that seems to have no idea how to properly utilize her. A twist with her character is so bungled and mishandled that the whole film nearly derails midway through. Good actors such as Sam Rockwell, Clancy Brown, and Adam Beach are left with very little to do and when emotional arcs come into play for them, you simply do not care in the least little bit.

The film is even technically flawed at times. The eventual reveal of the alien beings are underwhelming and their movements from a distance are rather distractingly obvious and synthetic. Surprisingly, with a film of this scope, there are syncing flaws in the soundtrack which are rather inexcusable. Lonergan’s attempts at using a stone to try and break off his wrist apparatus is one noticeable example, and much of the film feels hurried and slapped together. In fact, some of the below-the-line work on the film is rather alarmingly subpar, save Matthew Libatique’s noteworthy cinematography.

I just never really enjoyed “Cowboys and Aliens” all that much. Embarrassingly, I admit that I fell for two juvenile jump scares that rendered me kicking myself as soon as they happened. But the film never captivated me in the slightest way. In the days removed from watching the film, the entire project feels as if Favreau and his team were trying to hold everything together with a little bit of glue here and some CGI touch-ups there, all the while clinging to the hope that from a distance things wouldn’t look all that bad.

The misfire here is that by not establishing any elements of tongue-in-cheek humor to any of this and playing it mostly straight, the chance to engage viewers in something new and unique is lost and suppressed. Completely forgettable, “Cowboys and Aliens” is nothing more than an uninspiring shoulder shrug of a way to pass a couple of hours and blow through some hard-earned cash.

Should I See It?

YES

Fans of the source material will finally see their long-awaited patience pay off.

The title and concept is gimmicky enough to draw a lot of curiosity from fans of science-fiction and comic book adaptations.

Fans of western movies who take a look at this will appreciate the authentic look and feel of an old-fashioned western. At least, while it lasts.

Harrison Ford provides much of, if not all of, the humor in his performance.

NO

The film cannot loosen up and have fun with its goofball premise. The movie is largely joyless and seems dedicated to delivering the standard and formulaic aliens attack film, just in a novel setting. Yawn.

My brief reading of the summary of the Rosenberg graphic novel when compared to the cinematic adaptation makes me think that a lot of fans of the source material will be mighty upset with the variations taken.

When you stand this up alongside other alien invasion movies of 2011 or recent years, this will look very subpar and pedestrian.