Cowboys & Aliens

Jon Favreau.  The man is working hard.  He is turning himself into a pop culture icon, a prince among the nerds, and a director to be reckoned with at the likes of comic-con, AX, and so on.  Jon is putting himself in an extremely smart position.  One in which his films will always make a profit at the box office.  He is forcing his way into the cult status with the likes of other genre masters such as Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson, James Cameron and so on.

What does being in this position allow you to do?  It allows you to shoot movies in which cowboys have shootouts with aliens.  Does the end result turn out as fun as it sounds?  Not entirely.

What does happen in viewing CaA is that you smile, and often.  Only, the majority of the smiles end up coming from watching a really good western that happens to have a sci-fi bend on it.  The acting is ridiculous and it makes perfect sense considering the ridiculous quality of actors he managed to reel in for this yarn.  Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig swinging around the ol’ cocks like no other is an extremely fun site to behold, and the supporting cast is equally brilliant.

The set designs, look, feel, and the air around the entire project feels very good.  It all works and comes off as a strong period piece.  Even the aliens (whom Jon makes certain that we hate) come off as completely evil and without a single drop of room for remorse when it comes down to killing time.

But the real treat in this film for me, and this could simply be the fanboy in me talking, but the introduction of Olivia Wilde as a possible sci-fi queen.  This girl is simply the prettiest thing I’ve seen on the silver screen in a very long time, and not only is she ridiculous looking in the film, but their is an actual reason behind her undeniable beauty.  Her acting was spot on, she is sexy like some kind of futuristic car engine, and she completely feels like the girl that you would do anything for.

That said there are several flaws with the film, the main one being this:

MAJOR SPOILER ALERT!!!!

During the final battle sequence with the aliens, for whatever reason, it never crosses the minds of these characters, whom have already proven themselves rather smart, to pick up the alien weaponry of the dead and use it against them.  In all honesty this would’ve made for some badass payback in the film, and it wouldn’t have slowed down nor hurt the pace of the film at all.  That Jon completely missed the opportunity to put exotic weaponry into the hands of cowboys and indians is a shock and quite frankly, a bit of a letdown.

END SPOILERS!!!!

So there you have it.  At the end of the day, do I recommend this crazy western?  Absolutely.  But I recommend it with this grain of salt…do not expect nonstop action.  Do not expect logic to override anything.  And do not expect an Oscar worthy film.  Simply expect to have a good time and you will walk away pleasantly pleased.

Also, I will end this review with an image of Olivia at a press event because, well, I just can’t seem to find a logical reason not to.  Enjoy.