James Bond and Indiana Jones team up to save the day as an advance posse of aliens reconnaissance Earth for a potential invasion in search of gold.
The premise, set as it is in the wild west of the gunslinging 19th century, sounds promising – an original take on an age old story. But sadly, whilst it has its moments, Cowboys & Aliens is something of an empty shell.
The plot
Waking up in the middle of the desert, injured and bootless, the problem for Jake Lonergan (Daniel Craig) is that he has no idea who he is, where he is and how he got where he is. And what's more, he has a strange metal wristband immovably attached to his arm.
His identity soon becomes apparent as, riding into the dusty mining town thanks to a horse ‘borrowed’ from a group of mercenaries who make the mistake of believing a bounty may be on offer, he finds he is a wanted man.
Lined up to be handed over to Federal agents by the local sheriff, Lonergan is saved that particular ignominy by the sudden attack by metal aircraft – certainly nothing the townsfolk hereabouts have seen before.
With half the population whisked off by the strange craft, Jake and the ornery and abusive local landowner, Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford) are forced to band together to defeat the invaders, even if it means teaming up with Apaches to do so - much to the disgust of war-hero Dolarhyde,
Therein lies the simple tale of Cowboys & Aliens and a possible symbolic one of the destruction of the environment by outside forces (multinational mining companies spring to mind as the little folk overcome differences to form a united front in the battle against the monoliths).
There’s no question – the film looks good. And the first 20 minutes or so show a great deal of promise in terms of the gun toting wild west and the no hope town and its inhabitants.
But sadly, the film falls into the same trap as the recent Super 8 when it comes to its portrayal of the ‘aliens’ (a word never used in the film): derivative creatures straight from the Aliens franchise.
Unlike Ridley Scott’s films, there are no attempts to explore the ‘alien’ encounter between the extra-terrestrials and mankind. Where the steam train is the most advanced form of available technology on Earth, these strange, clawed beasts have the intelligence so advanced they can build craft that travel through space over light years. Yet they are portrayed, as usual, as nothing more than savages bent on destruction.
The result is Cowboys & Aliens becomes a simple yet extended battle of a group of ill-equipped underdogs who must prevent the advance posse from returning to their planet and a certain return with forces to take over the world.
Personal rating: 2.5 stars
Cowboys & Aliens
- Directed by Jon Favreau (Iron Man 1 & 2, Elf)
- Written by Mark Fergus (Iron Man, Children of Men), Alex Kurtzman (Star Trek, Transformers), Damen Lindelof (Prometheus, Lost – TV), Roberto Orci (Star Trek, Transformers), Hawk Ostby (Iron Man, Children of Men)
- Produced by Johnny Dodge, Brian Grazer (A Beautiful Mind, The Da Vinci Code), Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind, The Da Vinci Code), Alex Kurtzman (Eagle Eye, Untitled Star Trek Sequel), Damen Lindelof (Star Trek, Untitled Star Trek Sequel), Roberto Orci (Eagle Eye, Untitled Star Trek Sequel), Scott Mitchell Rosenberg (Dylan Dog: Dead of Night, Ultraforce – TV)
- Starring Daniel Craig (Quantum of Solace, Defiance), Harrison Ford (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Star Wars), Abigail Spencer (Mad Men, Angela’s Eyes – both TV)
Keith Lawrence - Published writer of articles in magazines, newspapers and websites, predominantly on culture, alongside ghostwriter/editor/copywriter.
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