Their star power is probably the greatest thing the film has going for it, and they are often doing things that seem cool. There are great actors with sub par dialogue doing sub par things. Overall, the film is a film, but not a great film. The action is fine, even if it is hard to follow, and it serves as decent entertainment without having to think too hard about it. The action seems to have too many quick cuts, making it difficult to tell who is doing what, and there is so much slaughter that it seems as if there must have been ten or a hundred times the combatants on both sides to justify how many loses actually appear on screen. The final scene is, for the most part, a mess. Cowboys and Apaches are riding around battling aliens in a haphazard way. Introducing romance was possibly done as a way to humanize the characters, but it falls flat, and the resurgence of memories about Lonergan’s previous love interest, Alice (Abigail Spencer) makes the interactions even more awkward. Swenson’s sacrifice is the epitome of the awkwardness, and it seems artificial, especially when the aliens were already fleeing. However, such a story is, in the context, somewhat clunky and doesn’t do much for the plot. The pseudo love story / chemistry between Lonergan and Swenson is a toned down, watered down, not even close to the events of a love story found within the original comic. After all, building the film around the alien weapon seems to be the only consideration, and that is probably for the best. There is little from the original comic book that is present within the film, and it the only connection between the two is really in their name. The film is based around a cowboy who has the ability to shoot blasts of energy, and it works.
Furthermore, there is no real tension within the plot, and the film relies on constantly jumping from one thing to the next to keep the audience from realizing that the excitement is artificial. This is probably for the best, because even the best actors are unable to really make the dialogue interesting. When characters start talking, the film seems to stop, and whatever is happening between characters is often interrupted by an attack of some sorts. What drives the story forward is the action. The plot, however, is a gimmick, and there is nothing that would suggest that the film deserves an award.Īlthough there are often many people on screen, the film is really just built around three characters: cowboy Jake Lonergan (Daniel Craig), Colonel Woodrow Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford), and alien Ella Swenson (Olivia Wilde). Those like Sam Rockwell or Keith Carradine or even Adam Beach are well established actors, but they often disappear at the drop of a hat even when they are in the middle of providing somewhat vital exposition. It is an acceptable film when it comes to its various genres, and it works as an action film as a whole. 2011’s Cowboys & Aliens by Jon Favreau is a science fiction Western film that delivers exactly what the title suggests: there are cowboys and there are aliens.