'Cowboys & Aliens' let down by awful title
Cowboys & Aliens
(Cert 12, 113 mins, Western/Sci-Fi/Action/Romance/Comedy)
Jake Lonergan (Daniel Craig) wakes disoriented in the desert with a gunshot wound and a large metal bracelet on his wrist.
He struts into town and is unmasked as a killer with a sizeable bounty on his head.
Arrested by the sheriff and bound for prison alongside Percy Dolarhyde (Paul Dano), Jake makes his escape during a devastating attack by extraterrestrial craft. Percy is abducted and the boy’s father, Woodrow (Harrison Ford), vows to rescue his son and he press-gangs Jake into accompanying his posse on the perilous mission.
Beautiful cowgirl Ella Swenson (Olivia Wilde), publican Doc (Sam Rockwell) and a fatherless boy called Emmett (Noah Taylor) join the hunt for aliens.
Based on the graphic novel by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg, Cowboys & Aliens is a rootin’ tootin’ action adventure that melds the western and science fiction genres with a blitzkrieg of digital effects.
It’s a curious juxtaposition – pistols and laser guns – and certain elements of Jon Favreau’s entertaining film don’t gel.
Craig exudes the same amount of charisma as the wooden scenery but he is a brooding physical presence and the camera sensibly focuses on his chest and posterior.
Ford provides fleeting comic relief and also pockets the film’s best emotional scene.
Wilde’s feisty femme almost feels surplus to requirements, unable to generate any sexual chemistry with Craig because of his character’s tragic back-story. Ignore the preposterous plot twists.
Cowboys & Aliens gallops along at a fair lick and director Favreau (Iron Man) orchestrates the set pieces with aplomb.
Rating: 3/5.
Click to stay connected with
more stories like this:
more stories like this:
