Alone and waking up in the desert with a mysterious laser gun strapped to his wrist, Jake Lonergan (Daniel Craig) wonders what is going on. Suffering from amnesia, he makes his way to the nearest town meeting cattle baron Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford). Loathing each other on sight, the duo’s simmering resentment is put on hold when aliens suddenly attack. Aghast at this bizarre occurrence, they form a posse intent on eradicating the strange visitors with every might the old West can muster.
With seven screen-writers, produced by expert film-makers Steven Spielberg and Ron Howard, you’d think Cowboys and Aliens would be exciting. Unfortunately it isn’t due to some poor writing and sluggish direction. Having directed the Iron Man movies to great heights, Jon Favreau oversees the exciting sounding concept with a heavy-handiness it didn’t need. Perhaps he mis-read the graphic novel on which this is based – whatever the case it moves at a glacial speed only enlivening towards the blazing finale.
Cowboys and Aliens looks lush and the special effects and action are suitably eye-catching. Unfortunately neither aspects of the Western and Sci-fi genre are handled too well – as everyone seems intent on making a high quality Western with a few alien scenes to spice up proceedings. Ford and Craig give it their all however and the cast do their best to emote amidst an onslaught of guns and CGI.
Unless one is a die-hard fan of Westerns, Cowboys and Aliens never really flies. Overly long and dull, its confused narrative leads to limited engagement where constant excitement should have been the order of the day.
Movie Review Rating 4 / 10
Movie Review by Patrick Moore
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