Friday, August 5, 2011

Film Friday--Cowboys and Aliens

Cowboys and Aliens
The movie based on a comic that was created from a movie pitch about Cowboys fighting Aliens, and its completely deadpan despite the silly-sounding title. I actually did enjoy the movie.

The title of the movie sums up what this is about, cowboys fighting aliens. Interestingly enough it is awhile before the aliens show up. Once they do though, it is pretty much constant action and explosions. There is a plot, and it isn't too bad. Still, there isn't anything too shocking. The aliens are bad, the humans are good, let's do this and kill some creepy monsters. Speaking of monsters, no one actually says the word, "alien," once in the movie. It's, "demon," or, "monster," etc. which is fitting considering back then with folk being so religious (though there are still plenty of nuts today) they would assume these creatures came from hell before they would venture a guess about the stars.
Daniel Craig does a good job not having a British accent and Olivia Wilde comes off as just plain creepy, but that is intentional. Harrison Ford's character is really unlikable at first but over time grows on you some, but I still couldn't help feeling the movie wanted me to like him more than I actually did. He said some nice things and made some sweet gestures, but could still be a huge jerk. Sam Rockwell also turns in a snazzy performance, making this possibly the comic film with the most big-name stars attached. I mean, Harrison Ford for a film about cowboys fighting green creatures? As for the aliens themselves, they were suitably creepy, with good special effects rendering them and the spaceships. Plus all the explosions look quite pretty.
This was an enjoyable movie, even if it had its fair share of odd plot issues (I won't name them for the fear of spoilers, but you reach a point in the movie where something is revealed and you go, "Oh come on, really?") and at times had trouble making me care about the characters--other than Sam Rockwell's who has things hard enough you root for him. Oh, and the movie sure is violent for PG-13, I guess if it is green alien blood its okay for a younger crowd. You parents out there might want to be warned that despite cute title that sounds kid-friendly, children are not the target audience with all this blood and guts. Still, I had a fun time and at the end of the day that's what the movie set out to do, entertain me. I won't fault it for that.
3.5 out of 5 stars.

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