Movie Review: Cowboys & Aliens

Cowboys & Aliens

A man awakens in the desert to complete memory loss. The only clue to his past is a picture of a young woman and a metal contraption locked around his forearm. When he arrives in a nearby town of Absolution, trouble isn’t far behind. But when strange lights from the sky arrive and begin shooting up the town and abducting its residents, the survivors decide to risk all to hunt the kidnappers and find their loved ones.

Daniel Craig plays the amnesiac who comes to be known as Jake Lonergan. Craig is a stoic, hard man with a soft heart. When his past is revealed it’s a bit of a shock, since it seemed to be against his nature. Harrison Ford also stars as Woodrow Dolarhyde, a tough war veteran, now rich and feared by the town and his employees. Sam Rockwell is Doc, a saloon owner who tries to toughen up to save his wife from abduction. And Olivia Wilde is the mysterious and beautiful Ella who seems to know something about Jake. The acting is solid and believable. Each character stands out and made the film worth watching.

The characters and their stories are really what made the film. While the men had rough and tough exteriors, there was still plenty of heart. The feel was definitely a Western meets Alien, with plenty of violence and intense suspense and action. Clever one-liners throughout gave the film some much-needed laughs and light-hearted moments. Fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat excitement from beginning to end, Cowboys & Aliens certainly lives up to the hype.

The story is only roughly based on the original graphic novel. This is a different story, yet still has riveting characters, a mystery, and non-stop adventure. This was the film I was looking forward to most this summer. And I’m happy to say I wasn’t disappointed. The Old West setting was charming yet gritty. And the aliens are brutal and extremely powerful, but underestimate humans, so it’s not a completely hopeless situation, nor silly. Both genres are treated with respect. Flawlessly blending Western action and gun-slinging with a high-tech alien invasion, this summer blockbuster is completely unique and altogether fantastic.