No, gosh darn it, this is not the long awaited sequel to Space Cowboys. This is, instead, one of the most anticipated films of the year. Decade? Let's not go that far.
On paper, Cowboys & Aliens is box office gold. Producers include Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard and Brian Grazer; screenwriter credits go to Lost alum Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Damon Lindelof and a whole bunch of other dudes; directed by Jon "Iron Man" Favreau; starring James Bond AND Indiana Frikken Jones; based on the graphic novels by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg. This film should kick some serious arse.
Amnesia-dude (Daniel Craig - Bond, James Bond) wakes up in the middle of the desert with a bracelet on his wrist, and not the kind you'd by from Etsy. After beating the crap out of three guys on horses, he makes his way into the small town of Absolution - a good place to be if you could remember your sins. He's quick to find himself on the wrong side of the law and the wrong side of the jail cell.
According to a Wanted poster, it is 1873 after all, he finds out his name is Jake. Jake is locked up after he beats up a few other people including Percy Dolarhyde (Paul Dano - Knight and Day), son of business man-slash-warrior Woodrow (Harrison Ford - Morning Glory). But just as Sheriff Taggart (Keith Carradine - Dexter) is about to ship him off to the Feds, the town is attacked by aliens. Jake discovers that his bracelet is a weapon and starts shooting.
Some of the townsfolk are taken by the aliens so Jake, Woodrow, bartender/doctor Doc (Sam Rockwell - Moon), pretty lil' lady Ella (Olivia Wilde - House), and some obligatory red shirts, go into the desert to get them back from the aliens that like sucking gold up from the earth and performing autopsies on people. Good luck finding anyone with similar interests on Craigslist.
Cowboys and Aliens. Cool title. I guess Prospectors From Outer Space wouldn't work so well. Ford is his usual grumpy self, Craig kicks arse Bond-style, everyone does well in the film. The effects are great. The alien dudes were really cool. I love their little T-Rex arms!
I must say, I was a little bit let down. Or maybe I'd hyped myself up so much because of the pedigree involved. There were a few lulls, it started out a bit slow, I missed the snappy dialogue that I had grown to love from the Lost guys, the ending was unsatisfying. I don't know why but those super cool puzzle pieces just didn't fit together quite right, or maybe I have to let it stew for a few days... Thankfully, however, this was no Wild Wild West : )
Things I learnt: if someone says don't look into the light, DON'T LOOK INTO THE LIGHT; I will brush and floss twice a day, every day; looking forward to Cowboys & Aliens Vs Predator Vs Freddie Vs Jason.
Yee-huh.
Seven out of ten.
Gotta agree with you young lady, the movie was good but now great. Your red shirt remark is spot-on. "Oh look, who is this bunch of un-named people? Dead-Meat & Co!" I'm not sure about a Cowboys Vs Predators film but I'd pay good money to see Smurfs Vs Jason. It would be a mother-smurfing bloodbath! Ace review.
ReplyDeleteDamn typo, that was meant to be "not great".... In addition the whole autopsy stuff made no sense. Fine they want gold, but why does dissecting humans help that?! Surely it didn't take them that long to realise that either biting or blowing us up would be sufficent...
ReplyDeleteDead Meat & Co - there's a movie waiting to happen, and Smurfs Vs Jason, let me get my cheque book.
ReplyDeleteIt was a bit predictable as well, I knew that so and so was a thing and that dude was gonna die after that big speech by the other dude. How can 3 guys from Lost write something that is predictable????
Ah I think you nailed the issue in your review. Too many writers, too many redrafts, too many half baked ideas. Don't forget two of those Lost writers along with Star Trek Begins did also write Transformers Part Deux! Cowboys & Aliens was for the most part predictable except for the fact the (spoiler alert) d** made it to the end credits...
ReplyDeleteI was listening to The Q&A podcast (with Jeff Goldsmith)(totes awesome podcast) today, he interviewed 2 of the writers (Orci and Fergus) and I think they hit the nail on the head, they said they wanted to make it like a serious western with aliens. But with Jon Favreau and a couple of the writers from Iron Man (Fergus and Ostby, I was expecting another Iron Man or something more along the lines of Firefly. I think the tone of the film was too dark. Might reassess when it comes out on DVD : )
ReplyDeleteDon't forget, Vincent made it to the end of Lost (spoiler).
The Q&A is on itunes, also his old podcast series from Creative Screenwriting Magazine is awesome too, but i think they've been taken down : ( Either way, YOU MUST LISTEN TO THEM. MMMMMUUUUSSSSSTTTTT!
Also, Nerdist Writer's Panel is new and has interviews with Damon Lindelof, Jane Espenson, and other worshippable idols to listen too.
ReplyDelete: )
I didn't mind the darkness, it could be aruged it took things maybe too seriously considering the title but if it had gone the other way it would be more like a certain Will Smith travesty. Many, many thanks for the podcast heads up, consider them already added to my playlist although I have already got quite a few Totally Rad Shows to watch....
ReplyDeleteAwww good ole Vincent, I still think a better ending would have been if he'd dreamt the whole darn thing (not really).
I almost feel like watching WWW again just to see how bad it was - morbid fascination and all that.
ReplyDeleteOooh, maybe the light a the end of Lost was the sun reflecting off a can off dog food???