Cowboys and Aliens (2011)

Before I begin I have to apologize. Going into watch this film, for reasons I will get to later on in this review, I was biased towards Cowboys & Aliens. I truly believed that I would not like, nor in joy a crossover with two genres of film that seemed like complete polar opposites to one another with no way of creating an exciting and captivating film. However I was completely wrong and for that Cowboys & Aliens writers, actors and anyone else who may have worked on the production of this film, I am sorry. So without burning any more daylight than I already have, let us continue on into the sunset with this review.

The film takes place in the New Mexico Territory during 1873 where we meet are main protagonist Jake Lonergan. Jake Lonergan has no idea who he is, where he’s from or anything else about himself and others due to an unexplainable loss of his memories. With no idea who he is and with only a mysterious metal object on his wrist and the cloths on his back to his name he eventually finds his way to the town of Absolution, where, it is revealed that Jake is a wanted outlaw and arrested by Sheriff Taggart too be transported to Santa Fe to be trialed for his many crimes. It seems that Jake’s luck has finally run out as he resolves himself to his fate, however, all is not lost for Jake Lonergan for you see a chain of events is about to occur that will transform this outlaw of the west into a hero.When alien spacecraft the likes of which the town folk has never seen before attack and kidnap over half the of the residents, Jake decides to help the people of Absolution by rescuing their friends and family before it’s too late. Accompanying Jake on his courageous adventure is the ruthless cattle baron Colonel Woodrow Dolarhyde, the beautiful but mysterious Ella Swenson and many more, most being former foe than friend. With hundreds of years of evolution and advanced technology stacked against them, can this ragtag posse stand any chance of defeating the aliens? One thing is for certain however, the Wild West is about to become a little Wilder.

Despite western films not being as popular as they were during the 1950s and 60s, elements of the western genre have found their way into some very popular and memorable films. From the memorable shoot outs in Star Wars to the outlandish but fun fighting scenes in some of the Indiana Jones movies, the western genre has left its mark of some of the film industry's greatest hits, for better or for worst is up to your own opinion. However up till I watched Cowboys and Aliens, I had not noticed that while there were plenty of sci-fi films with western elements in them, but not that many western films with sci-fi elements in them and that’s for a number of reasons my fellow reader; westerns are usually restricted to the era known as the Wild West in America’s history which began in 1865 sometime after the Civil War and ended in 1895, However, a sci-fi film opens up more possibilities to a filmmaker in regards to setting and characters, you can have films set in space or on alien worlds in fact you can even have entire movies centered around the idea of going to space and trying to find another world with intelligent life. A film set around the sci-fi genre opens the door to new possibilities and keeps the genre from stagnating and dying over time. With films like Star Trek, the Martian, and the Highly anticipated Star Wars Rogue One (Coming out this December!), it is clear to say that the sci-fi genre still has many more years ahead of it. I realise that I went completely off topic, but what I’m trying to say is that when I first read the description of this film, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it would be a western film with elements of sci-fi incorporated into it.

After watching the film myself, I can safely say that my opinion of it hasn’t really changed all that much. Westerns have never really been my cup of tea per say, however I did try to keep an unbiased mindset while watching Cowboys and Aliens and there are some things about the film I really enjoyed. The actors were amazing in their portrayal of their roles and it was easy to imagine that these were real cowboys from the Wild West. Harrison Ford was born for the role of a cattle baron in the wild west and I have no doubt that his former roles as Han Solo and Indiana Jones helped influence Dolarhyde’s personality. Olivia Wilde as Ella Swenson was always incredibly mysterious. While I was certain that she was on our hero’s side, it always felt like there was some information being held back. Heck, for a long time I thought she was Jake Lonergan’s wife but I could not have been farther from the truth. The filmmakers really did try and capture the feel of the time; nothing looked brand new and stuck out like a sore thumb, while, nothing that was supposed to have looked lived in looked completely abandoned and for going the extra mile I praise the film and all those who worked on it. However there are some things that I do dislike about Cowboys and Aliens, the first being casting Daniel Craig for Jake Lonergan. Now don’t get me wrong I do believe that he is still a good actor, especially in Skyfall when he was portraying the legendary British Spy James Bond, but no matter how hard I tried while watching Cowboys and Aliens I just couldn’t stop seeing James Bond and start seeing Jake Lonergan. Not to mention that their respected characters had very similar personalities. For those who may disagree with my opinion, take it as a testimony to how well he played James Bond 4 years ago. While it was almost a given that they would use CGI for the aliens, I wish that they had used animatronics for some of the more up close scenes though this is subjective. Despite having some problems I still would recommend Cowboys and Aliens if you would like a unique western or sci-fi experience and while I probably won’t be changing my opinion nor watch the film for a while after this review goes up, that shouldn’t keep you from seeing Cowboys and Aliens and deciding what you think of it yourself.

On a side note this may well become the last review I post for 2016 so I would just like to take the time to wish all my fellow Film Club members a very Merry Christmas and an even Happier New Year. Thank you for reading and for the last time, May the Force be With YOU!