Well, you have to say this about Cowboys and Aliens: It knows exactly what is. I mean, the name of the movie IS Cowboys and Aliens. So you have to tip your hat to it for its honesty. I have never read the graphic novel that this movie is based on, so I can't vouch for how close Jon Favreau's movie stays with it.
For once in a western, the main character really IS a "Man With No Name" as Daniel Craig wakes up in the middle of a desert in the Old West with no memory of who he is or how he got there. Unfortunately for him, the residents of the nearby town haven't forgotten him. They know him as Jake Lonergan, a notorious outlaw wanted for robbery and murder among other things. He doesn't help his situation by racking the ne'er do well son of the local cattle baron, Woodrow Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford), in the balls either. Dolarhyde. Wow. That is a name steeped in all kinds of allusions, isn't it?....money, Mr. Hyde, formaldehyde, Dickens, etc. Woodrow is borderline psychotic because of his Civil War experiences so he lives up to some of the connotations of his name. Jake is about to get hauled off to trial to face his crimes, when ray beam blasting aliens from outer space send the whole town to Hell! Luckily for the humans, Jake has an alien wrist weapon that allows him to use the rootin tootin sci-fi tech of the aliens against them. Olivia Wilde also shows up as a mysterious gun-toting woman named Ella who is much more than she seems. And she stays that way, before eventually giving some of her background that lasts all of 1 minute. Wilde is horribly utilized in this movie, mainly because her only function seems to be to say "They're here" when the aliens so obviously show up on the scene. It's up to Jake to find a way to lead the townspeople, outlaws, Native Americans, kids, and even dogs against some kick-ass aliens who vaguely resemble miniature Rancors.
Like so many movies these days, Cowboys and Aliens is ok to watch once and be entertained, but you probably will never want to see it again. In that respect it reminds me a lot of Favreau's Iron Man films. And I can expand that to most movies based on comic books that have come out in recent years. They look flashy, they pop, they sizzle, but in the end they shrivel under closer inspection.
If there's one thing I can't stand about alien movies, it's when the aliens are basically just like us. In other words, Star Wars anthropomorphic boringness. I much prefer the creepiness of aliens like those in 2001, Solaris, or even the original Alien (although that may change after Prometheus). The whole "the aliens are here to steal our resources" shtick is just so old at this point. Can't we imagine aliens that go beyond just our own oil-sucking fantasies?
I was kinda surprised that Harrison Ford took this role since he's always shitting on his Star Wars movies like they were so far beneath him. It almost made me laugh when I saw him go all Marlon Brando with Woodrow and try to make him into a living breathing character right out of Unforgiven. Daniel Craig did a good job even though without Bond behind his name, he's really not a leading man.
This movie didn't do very well, costing $163 to make and only grossing around $100 million in the US. Taking foreign revenue into account, it made about a $10 million profit which is probably way below what the studio was counting on.
I wouldn't buy this movie, but it's definitely worth a rental.
My Grade: C+
PS. Was Cowboys and Aliens a prequel to Laser Blast?
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