I was thinking about writing another political blog tonight, based on a discussion I had today with an Obama disciple, but I am still too annoyed about that conversation to write a blog about it.So instead, I will talk about one of the new really fun movies out there. This movie would be "Cowboys & Aliens", which turned out to be surprisingly good. Will this usher in a new genre of Sci-Fi Westerns??? Well, I hope so, but if not, at least this was a really solid movie.
When I first saw the trailer for "Cowboys & Aliens" during the 2011 Super Bowl, I scoffed a bit. I was really skeptical, but I thought actors like Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig wouldn't be in a movie that is stupid, so I decided I would give it a shot. But, then I got busy and never got around to watching it, until a few nights ago.
"Cowboys & Aliens" opens with amnesiac gunslinger Jake Lonergan (Daniel Craig) alone in the desert. Soon, Lonergan wanders into the town of Absolution, and after "rocking the boat" a bit, gets caught up in a crisis when the town is attacked by demons (a.k.a. aliens). The aliens are kidnapping humans and experimenting on them. So, the townsfolk, led by Col. Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford) and Ella Swenson (Olivia Wilde), set out to track down the "demons" and get their people back. They are soon joined by Lonergan, who with his mysterious wristband weapon and flashback memories seems to be the key to stopping the invaders.
As Nuke put it, this movie starts out as a great western and Daniel Craig is an awesome cowboy. But then it gets weird when aliens show up and all of the sudden and POW!!!!...we have a Sci-Fi movie on our hands. I didn't find it weird at all...instead I really enjoyed the nice balance struck between western and sci-fi. As stated above, Daniel Craig is a really great cowboy. Harrison Ford is good in what turns out to be a very different role for him. The rest of the cast is solid as well.
I liked "Cowboys & Aliens" a lot. I almost rated it 5 stars, but then cooler heads prevailed and I settled on 4.4 stars. I highly recommend this movie to all Sci-Fi and Western movie fans.
4 comments:
I still hope to see the version where it continues as a Western without aliens showing up.
As for the "new genre," Firefly and Serenity already won that competition hands down.
How about Sci-Fi westerns set in the past that end up with the characters not knowing about aliens but calling them demons instead?
Sorry, Jake... Nuke is still right. Joss Whedon = best sci-fi western out there. :)
Firefly was great, as was Serenity. They were both better than this movie, but this was a really fun movie.
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