Cowboys and Aliens (2011)

The director of Ironman sends James Bond, Indiana Jones, and Thirteen on a mission against aliens in the old American West.

The premise seems can't miss...

We're first introduced to Daniel Craig in the mysterious "man with no name" role. He's lost his memory, as well as any charisma, but has gained a sweet piece of alien tech.

Harrison Ford plays the local rich man, a retired army colonel that has cattle, land, and a Clint Eastwood growl.

Olivia Wilde is another mysterious stranger (I think a good rule of moviemaking may be to limit the mysterious strangers to a singular mysterious stranger). More on her mysteriousness in a minute.

The action, while minimal for a blockbuster, is great. I think it was a good move to keep it relatively minimal in the film, the idea that aliens could attack at any moment while not making it a non stop battle. This reminded me very much of classic westerns (they even wear cowboy hats and ride horses!).

I also really enjoyed Harrison Ford's take on the grizzled old jerk land baron, even if his character's arc smacks you in the head over and over.

This movie has everything going for it, yet the problems are manifest.
The first is that there are simply too many people. Character after character is introduced in enough detail to try to make us care about them but in the end we don't. This starts tangent after tangent that we just don't need. I honestly don't care if the barkeep learns how to shoot a rifle, even if he is president of the universe.

And when you have to watch multiple scenes of dialog exposition with these characters that you don't care about, it makes a relatively short film seem like a director's cut of Lord of the Rings. It goes on and on, and with each new set piece I was thinking, "let's get on with it, I have to pee!"

I'm back.

Another problem is that Wilde's character is just too hard to accept. She's the hottest girl in town, carries a gun, and is acknowledged by no one early on. Even James Bond tells her to piss off. It's as if everyone in town knows her a little too well, and wants no part of her.

When she joins the main group posse to go on a big alien hunting expedition only one other character even notices, and he shrugs her off.
But as I mentioned earlier she is indeed a stranger, except for the fact that she's not treated as a stranger by the townsfolk. When we're surprised by later revelations it feels . . . cheap.

Finally, the story is nothing terribly new. No chances were taken, other than would summer popcorn audiences want to see a "western." The only surprise feels like a gimmick.

Oh, but the cowboys do make nice with the indians during the movie. So that's a surprise I guess. Historically westerns are cowboys versus indians.
Wait, I think I just got it.

Nevermind. Great film!

Seriously, what works?

Harrison Ford. The action scenes. The western parts of the film. The special effects. All of these make the movie worth watching. To be honest though, while watching it late at night I found myself dozing, and often. Had to rewatch the movie a second night.

It's a shame. Favreau knows how to make a great movie (see Ironman). He also can make a disappointing movie (see Ironman 2 - and this movie).