Cowboys & Aliens

Daniel Craig stars as Jake Lonergan - a cowboy who wakes up in the middle of the desert not remembering who he is, where he is, and wearing a strange shackle around his wrist. Upon wandering into town, the local sheriff, John Taggart (Keith Carradine), figures out Lonergan is a wanted man, so he gets ready to transport the marauder to the federal court, when aliens start to attack the town and take away some of the citizens.

Now, those left behind form a posse to hunt down the alien mothership and get their loved ones back, while Jake starts to have flashbacks that could help them defeat the aliens. The shackle on his wrist also has some powers that might be even more important to defeating the aliens.

The idea of mixing cowboy movie imagery with Sci-Fi concepts is a welcome original idea. It's just not executed to the awesome levels that are possible. Instead of getting a mix between John Wayne, Clint Eastwood and Star Wars, the audience has to settle for Battlestar Galactica (the 70's TV show version) mixed with Wild Wild West (the Will Smith version).

Director Jon Favreau, along with cinematographer Matthew Libatique, show they have been studying John Ford films by religiously and stunningly capturing the classic western look with gorgeous views of the vast, open desert and majestic mountains rising all around. I just wish they worked on staging all of the action in a more thrilling way, beefed up the development of some more interesting supporting characters, and pushed the 5 person writing team to come up with compelling dialogue.

Craig is fine as the stoic anti-hero, but could use more life at times when the action is rocking. Meanwhile, Harrison Ford is good as the rich guy who rules the town with an iron fist (you always have one of those dudes in a western), but is best in the quieter moments, when he isn't overacting and bordering on silly and farcical as he attempts to be animated. This is a common complaint I have of Ford's acting. He's like some Jeckyl and Hyde actor who can be amazingly centered, intense and commanding in one moment, and very cartoonish in the next.

Cowboys & Aliens might be suffering from being the latest release in a summer full of explosive, action-packed blockbusters, but it could have stood out with more attention to what makes a movie special.

Cowboys & Aliens is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of western and sci-fi action and violence, some partial nudity and a brief crude reference.