Film Review - Cowboys and Aliens (2011)

Cowboys and Aliens is based off a graphic novel and stars Daniel Craig, the current James Bond as Jake Lonergan, a man who wakes up in the middle of the desert in the 1870's with no memory of who he is and how he got a mysterious bracelet on him, he's then picked up by some deputies and taken to a nearby town, but trouble soon comes calling.

Before heading into this film, I didn't know much about it only that it starred Craig and Harrison Ford and was directed by Jon Favreau who directed the first two Iron Man movies, was this a winning combination?

Sadly no for one clear reason: The story, I know the title says "Cowboys and Aliens" but a lot of fun could've been had with this title and made for a cracking film but sadly it isn't and for the most part I found it boring mainly because the story didn't hone in on a central purpose and rambled on from one scene to the next and also, the characters in it we don't really care about very much at all as they're introduced for the most part and then not given anything to do apart from become cannon fodder for the Aliens.

And as for the Aliens side well they feel like a cross between the Chimera from the Resistance series and Kuato from Total Recall and nowhere near as interesting or scary as those two alien life forms and even they get a little boring after a while.

But there were some things I did like, mainly Craig himself I mean he nails that old school look of Indy so well with the Fedora, the Outfit, the Gun all he needed was the bullwhip and presto the rightful heir to the Indiana Jones throne, I also liked the action scenes which are well directed and give you a sense of what's happening at any given time and who's fighting who and I also liked the cinematography and the early scenes which had that real western feel with the widescreen landscapes, the old time setting and the "saddle up boy, yaw" feeling they help to create.

You know, if this had been a proper western, I would've loved it but the sci-fi elements bring it down and the messy script keep it lodged deep in the ground, a shame, 1 out of 5.