Cowboys & Aliens

So far this year we've had three very different westerns. 'True Grit' gave us the traditional western. 'Rango' gave us the animated western. Now we get the western with a twist of sci-fi.

I had fairly high expectations for this film based on the team behind the camera. Steven Spielberg has made numerous sci-fi films dealing with aliens. Jon Favreau has made a couple of sci-fi type films and one with aliens. Ron Howard too has made a film with aliens. Sadly they don't seem to have made it work with a western. Most alien invasion films have been set in modern times. Most recorded viewings of aliens in real life have come in recent years. Why have aliens waited until now to make contact? I know Starfleet in 'Star Trek' have a prime directive that they will not make contact with an alien species until it has made similar technological advancements to their own. So are aliens out there living by the same rules. In cinema though we've not had many films where aliens have attacked humans from history. Is it because we feel that only now do we have the technology to battle these aliens on an equal footing? In the past we did not have decent weapons to fight back and so any invasion would have been an annihilation? The humans have to be given a chance to succeed. There is a bit of that here. While the aliens wipe out lots of humans with their laser weapons the humans are good at killing a few aliens with their simple rifles and pistols. Jon is excellent at making great spectacular action sequences and does so brilliantly here. I was however let down by the parts in between. The general story is familiar and full of co-incidences that I found boring a bit lazy. The reason the aliens are here is a good example. I did not find anything all that spectacular in between the spectacular action sequences.

Daniel Craig is an excellent actor and has proven that in previous films. He gives a decent performance here but I did not see it as anything great. I understand that he is going for that 'Man With No Name' thing but I did not find his character all the interesting. Harrison Ford has become a grumpy old man. His career has now made this turn where he is just being angry all the time. He does however bring a certain gravitas to the proceedings which make him welcome. Olivia Wilde is let down by a character that is too mysterious to be interesting. Her reason for being there, with out too much of a spoiler, is too convenient.

A very disappointing mash-up that while good visually is not so good in the story and character department.