By Tanner McCullough
Daniel Craig wakes up in the middle of the desert with no idea who or where he is and a mysterious bracelet attached to his arm. After being confronted by a group of bounty hunters, he is able to quickly dispatch all of them, without knowing why he is so good. Craig rides into the town of Absolution, where he soon meets a preacher (Clancy Brown) with a quick draw and a heart of gold, a timid doctor (Sam Rockwell) who is tired of being picked on, a strong woman with a mysterious past (Olivia Wilde) and the Dollarhydes. The Dollarhydes are the ranching family who own Absolution. They’re led by curt patriarch Woodrow, though our first experience with them is the reckless son, Percy (Paul Dano). Within minutes Craig is wanted (it turns out he’s a train robber named Jake Lonergan). If this all sounds familiar to you, it’s because it is.
The five credited screenwriters seemed to think that combining two genres of film allowed them to use as many cliches of both genres as they could put on the page. The character arcs for every single character is predictable from the first time we meet them. Craig’s bracelet is used as a tool whenever the writers are backed into a corner, but otherwise forgotten for a large part of the film.
Though the script may be lazy, the movie itself is a lot of fun. Fans of both or either genre will find themselves drawn into the film. Everyone involved with Cowboys and Aliens recognizes that they aren’t making art and let themselves have some fun. Ford is especially fun as a malicious rancher--he actually has a reason to act like the crotchety old man he’s been in every film for the last few years. A final showdown with the aliens is properly epic and engaging, with the outgunned protagonists making a desperate attack in an attempt to save their planet. As blockbusters go, you could do better, but you could also do a whole lot worse.
3.5 out of 5 stars
© Tanner McCullough, 2011
No comments:
Post a Comment