Film

What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases

Cowboys & Aliens (2011)

Director: Jon Favreau

Time Out rating

Average user rating

9 reviews

Synopsis

Ford and Craig play warring Western heroes who put their animosity aside to battle alien invaders.

Movie review

From Time Out London

‘Iron Man’ director Jon Favreau’s latest actioner needs no introduction other than the title – and that’s one of the best things going for it. The idea of aliens descending on a dusty Wild West town has widespread popcorn appeal and, with a heavy sprinkling of big name actors, ‘Cowboys & Aliens’ gets off to a promising start.

Daniel Craig plays the strong, silent cowboy who wakes in the New Mexico desert with no memory and a chunky metal bracelet on his arm – the first clue to an impending alien invasion. It’s soon clear he can remember how to fight, however, as he rides into the nearest town and humiliates Percy Dolarhyde (Paul Dano), the arrogant drunken son of big-shot cattleman Woodrow (Harrison Ford). But Woodrow and our hero must team up when an alien spaceship swoops in, plucking up victims and prompting a disparate band of cowboys, Native Americans and mysterious strangers to track it through the wilderness.

It’s here the pace starts to falter. Characters are undercooked, with only a potential romance (Craig and Olivia Wilde) and a surrogate-son routine (Ford and Adam Beach) offering emotional engagement. The aliens themselves have little personality, and their appearance is all too derivative (think slimy grey skin and ‘Alien’-style inner jaws). But the biggest problem is a lack of humour: while Craig looks every inch the cowboy and handles gruff action well, Robert Downey Jr he ain’t.

A handful of funnies simply isn’t enough in a film that should have been handled with B-movie glee rather than pompous plod. With slick action and effects, ‘Cowboys & Aliens’ is a good-looking movie that passes muster as a visual diversion. But once the gang saddle up, what started as ‘True Grit’-meets-’War of the Worlds’ ends up closer to – whisper it – ‘Wild Wild West’.

Author: Anna Smith

Time Out London Issue 2139: 18 – 24, 2011

Email Tweet Share

User reviews of this film

Mike said...

Posted on Jan 19 2012 19:30 Can only agree with anna smith,she just about covers it all.But I did enjoy watching it,not the best film in the world but certainly not the worst

Report as inappropriate
akhila said...

Posted on Oct 24 2011 18:42 I kind of agree with the above review but I think it was more entertaining than she suggested.It was good but you do get the feeling that it could or should have been better.What could have been a quirky B movie ends up a bit pedestrian and slightly mainstream.Worth checking out if your in the mood though.

Report as inappropriate
poppity said...

Posted on Sep 04 2011 09:58 enjoyable entertaining all the way through it is what it is

Report as inappropriate
scotty said...

Posted on Sep 01 2011 18:21 great humour,great dialogue,fantastic acting and really original Alien story (for once)--i loved it,,dont get critics sometimes,wonder if I'm easy pleased,,, if you like popcorn with a superior brittish actor stepping in to all american actioner-alongside a cinema legend-with a female lead who is simply stunning looking... then you will enjoy...

Report as inappropriate
DutchMovieLover said...

Posted on Sep 01 2011 08:54 For a very wet summer afternoon (we are currently having the wettest summer in Dutch history since 1906 and according to the local media movie attendances in the Netherlands are up 20% this august when compared to august 2010!!!) this film is OK. I especially enjoyed the pairing up of Daniel Craig en Harrison Ford (in Indiana Jones mode!)!!!

Report as inappropriate
violetta said...

Posted on Aug 29 2011 16:23 A cowboy wakes up in a semi-desert with a lump of metal on his wrist - he can't remember who he is and where he's been. For some reason a trio of low life's turn up - that ends badly. Our cowboy makes his way into town and is witness to a spoilt brat kicking the townsfolk around cos his daddy is a wealthy cattle rancher. Cows get blown up and alien ships swoop over the dusty ol' town. Dragging peeps off with cable grabs - something like fairground mini cranes but more effective. A few other bits and bobs occur then an alien ship is found - a bunch of cowboys and a crowd of native Indians sort that out - that's about it I think; although I may have dozed off once or twice.

Report as inappropriate
Thanks for the great info said...

Posted on Aug 22 2011 17:09 Thanks for the great info dog I owe you bgigity.

Report as inappropriate
Marsellus said...

Posted on Aug 22 2011 08:42 A great cast is wasted on a lazy script. There just isn't anything really interesting happening here. A distinct lack of humour is also a major problem. The banter between Craig and Ford should have been as witty as the dialogue Ford and Connery shared in the 3rd Indy movie. Instead, the lifeless script only makes you think of ways the movie could have been better. This is a 2 star film but I'll give it an extra star just for the cast. That Olivia woman is hot! Also, nice to see Shane from The Shield pop up as a random outlaw! And Sam Rockwell is one of the best actors in Hollywood so I'll watch him in anything.

Report as inappropriate
scrumpyjack said...

Posted on Aug 17 2011 13:17 Good, balanced review from Anna Smith. Id like to see you do more T.O. reviews for mass appeal stuff like this. Agree other than the 2*, id go 3 as I was entertained from start o finish though, BEWARE....the aliens in the light are rubbish and in the dark too menacing for under tens on the big screen (from much experience, 12a's are view as fun for all the family, this certainly isn't) also, the running time SHOULD be around what you state but is actually around 2 hours. 6/10

Report as inappropriate