Cowboys and Aliens

[prettyxcool]

People seems to come earlier and earlier for screenings these days. Usually I get there by 6pm and hardly anyone is about but today, I got to Covent Garden Odeon at 6pm and there was already a queue snaking to the door of the cinema, and by 5 past, it snaked around the foyer, before we were let in. ejwrank was just ahead of me, so we managed to get seats on the second row from the back, and saved a couple for beate, and just then beate called on her mobile, and I told her no worries, we have saved her seats! About 6.15pm the cinema was already 90% full and I saw cliveas come in and waved to him, by 6.30pm it was packed.

Oh my, what a far fetched, totally corny film. There is so much you can do with aliens invading the earth, I suppose, and I was bored. No explanation of anything at all. The visual effects were the only thing I suppose that was any good, and the Arizona scenery. With such a title, I expected there to be more fun, but there wasn't. I was thinking James Bond meets Indiana Jones, but it wasn't, they didn't share much screen time together either. 4/10

[Beate]

Thanks to ejwrank and PXC for saving us seats! We were stuck on the Piccadilly Line for 15 minutes otherwise we would have been earlier. I would say this was about 95% full tonight.

Well, OH was totally enthralled. He was so taken by the film that he completely forgot to drink his drink, and that's saying something. He then raved about it afterwards.

I didn't think it was brilliant but it was by no means bad. I have a more critical mind than OH and I thought it dragged in the end. There were plotholes everywhere, but in the end I took it for what it was - people working together against an evil that threatens them all. It used to be the Indians that were the enemy but this is out of date now. How lucky that aliens are still fair game. They have no redeeming qualities and are pig-ugly. Just what the nation needs - a common enemy, and ordinary thieves and bandits have their Independence Day and become heroes. It's always lovely to see grumpy Harrison Ford in a role, and Daniel Craig wasn't all that bad either. Unfortunately, Independence Day still is the far superior film so this gets only a 7/10.

[Beate]

Oh my, what a far fetched, totally corny film. There is so much you can do with aliens invading the earth, I suppose, and I was bored. 4/10

Let's face it, had it been Jason Momoa instead of Daniel Craig, you would have given this an 8.

[trickydicky123]

This was absolute b movie garbage - cliche ridden and predictable but without a hint of irony
Harrison Ford was his usual over acting self and Daniel Craig just grunted - so no change there either!
Best performances was from the dog and the slightly camp Indian chief!

[LiteupLee]

This was sooo much better than I was expecting. I had'nt been looking forward to it at all, but this was pretty good. Bizarre, but good. Sort of "the good, the bad and the ugly" meets "Starwars" with a bit of the programme "V" thrown in??? I've never seen starwars so, I would'nt really take any notice of me (I dont!). Daniel Craig.. not a fan of his and kept thinking it did'nt seem the right film for him, but nice butt :) Thought Harrison Ford was better, but thought his grumpy bits were over the top and really quite forced at times. Overall 7.5/10

[funthing29]

This did not improve on second viewing. The plot holes just seem even wider and the bland script is made even more obvious. What this film was missing was some humour, something to make it more light hearted. There were several weak attempts at comedic one liners but they fell flat.

Once again I thought the best part of the film was the opening act and it never reaches that quality again. I actually dozed for about 20-30 mins in the middle (though that had more to do with exhaustion rather than being bored to sleep). This could have been so much better and entertaining if the script had been stronger.

I actually want to reduce my original rating. Now I think it earns 4.5/10.

[valda]

Oh my, what a far fetched, totally corny film. There is so much you can do with aliens invading the earth, I suppose, and I was bored. 4/10

Let's face it, had it been Jason Momoa instead of Daniel Craig, you would have given this an 8.

[TheOnes]

How do you make this concept boring and without intelligence?

[spoiler]1) It was predictable. From the giveaway framings that bad horror movie's use, such as the scene in the boat where the Alien stalks the kid, when it went away i kept saying to myself: "Its going to go back to his face". Then, what a shock, RAARGH, it comes back. I rolled my eyes. Thats not a one off, they do those cliche fakeouts throughout the film. And the resurrection. Why cant we have a proper death in movies without needed a resurrection or a "wasn't really dead" fake out. Which brings me to

2) Olivia Wilde. I liked her character at first, but after the resurrection scene where she is an alien from a different race, i just lost all interest and care for the movie. It was obvious that they had no idea how to give the cowboys answers or an upper hand, so they pull that revelation out of they're ass and we get "exposition woman". And i wasnt the only one that groaned

3) The Aliens. Ok, so the want gold yes? Why did they bother to attack the humans and draw attention to themselves. They were hidden away out of sight. They had no reason to take humans. It wasn't a slave force as they were already pumping out gold on they're own. They just seemed to turn them into ash....WHY? There was no reason. And then before that keeping them staring at a light. WHY? And not to mention the dumbass reveal of how Jake got his arm weapon: "Derp, let me leave this super powered weapon right next to this prisoner".

4). One reason why i hate westerns is the genre/setting doesnt give any leeway for imaginative framing. And this was the crux for the final battle and it suffered as a result. It was just boring, lacking any competant staging or excitement and it was just very very paint by numbers. Nothing was interesting, it was just messy

The scenes at the start with the humans was fantastic though. I just can't believe that pure western scenes would be the highlight to this as i hate westerns. Everything else was one big inconsistant mess. I have a ton of other points against this movie though, but to sum them all up its just sloppy[/spoiler]

4.5/10

[weliveandbreathewords]

Meh, what more can I say really? :/

It was OK, once you get over the fact its Cowboys and Aliens, it get's a little bit better, and I mean a little :S
Would have been better just as a plain western for me, good enough performances all round, loved Sam Rockwell as the comic relief.
Very predictable storyline, almost all the scenes were predictable when you think about it.
First what, half hour? was perfectly fine, then THEY showed up for no apparent reason [spoiler]as we know they were there for gold, not people...[/spoiler].

Hmmm 5/10 purely for the performances, aliens suck!

[alythonian]

Wow - what can I say. I'm just about lost for words, and no, that's not in a good way.

As I said in the review they sent me - "dire" pretty much sums it up.

You know it had some ok bits but then just as it was rolling along with 1/2 a story bam along came a curveball of a howler.

I think they should have been more honest and called it Cowboys v Aliens in a Predator-stylee nonsence rather than pretending it was serious.

John Favereau has lost the plot as far as I'm concerned and I mean that literally and theoretically!

Sorry, not even Daniel Craig's chest can save this or maake me give it more than 3/10!