Director Jon Favreau steps out of the Iron Man suit and saddles up for his genre mix ‘n mash, Cowboys and Aliens.
On paper, this sci-fi western has all the big name directing, producing and acting talent one could ever want to successfully pull off such a jarring combination. Bond meets Indy and Spielberg stamps his executive producer credit along with a carriage full of screenwriters, but Favreau fails to capitalize on the film’s crazy potential.
The result is a point A to point B plot that delivers little excitement and whose characters fulfill the western archetypes with limited appeal.
Daniel Craig’s gunslinger — also wrist-clasped laser shooter — awakes in the middle of the desert with no memory of who he was or how he got there. After making his way to the town of Absolution, he meets up with loner and hottie, Ella (Olivia Wilde), and soon establishes himself as the town’s one-man wrecking crew.
Craig is as cool and suave as always and manages to bring an Eastwood “man with no name” vibe, keeping silent for the most part and speaking with calculated one-liner precision.
Standing tall and iconic by Craig is Harrison Ford as the cattle tycoon and iron-fisted Colonel Dolarhyde. He’s the hardened, Indian-hating war hero who runs the streets of Absolution through money and fear, ranging from total “be a man!” grouch to mushy father.
Sam Rockwell serves up the drinks and mends wounds as the comic relief bartender/doctor. You’ve got a moral-grounding preacher, thieving bandits (fans of FX’s Justified will notice a Boyd Crowder appearance) and a whole tribe of spear-throwing Apaches—which really makes you think it should have been called Cowboys and Indians vs. Aliens.
Speaking of those invading aliens, there’s really not much to tell. They’re not scary, they don’t talk and they hardly do much of anything besides wrangle up humans and get blown to pieces by Craig’s 007-esque wrist gadget. About the only thrills that are to be offered involve predictable UFO “demons from the sky” sequences.
For a director of Favreau’s undeserved reputation—let’s be honest, Iron Man 2 was a letdown—he takes no chances here and presents a dull, stereotypical western with generic aliens that may cause laughs when you learn their true motivations. Either that or you just won’t even care because it’s so glossed over.
Craig and Ford wear their cowboy hats just fine, Wilde is a suitable leading lady and the production qualities and western landscapes look slick. It’s begging to be an epic, starry event, but there’s no meat to the concept.
There’s no real soul, no real charisma to carry you through the boring parts.
Maybe too much talent was involved, maybe there wasn’t much of a script to work with or maybe Favreau should stick to making movies with Robert Downey Jr. Either way, save your money, wait for the rental, or never watch it all and go find your western and sci-fi fix elsewhere.