Climbing Higher Pictures

As the summer movie season winds to a close, there are only a few blockbuster standouts left to see. The season hasn’t been nearly as cannibalistic as the first slate of movies appeared, with most productions either hitting their stride or simply bombing out. It feels like it wouldn’t really be a summer without a Jon Favreau flick these days, and so here we are in the old west for a brush with some less than happy extraterrestrial visitors. Is this comic book adaptation worth a look?

Cowboys & Aliens Review

By Ryan Hamelin

Movie Grade: B+

Jon Favreau is a hard man to put your finger on. On the one hand he’s managed to almost single handedly launch Marvel’s in-house superhero empire, paving the way for an Avengers movie crossover the likes of which has never been seen before. On the other hand, his Iron Man films really aren’t the most solid of movies, hampered by strange plot choices and a mishandling of key action moments that threaten to dampen the entire experience. Spielberg apparently loves him, and as can be seen in the upcoming Cowboys & Aliens, there’s a lot here worth admiring. At the same time there seems to be something missing, some spark that catapults the projects he creates into the realm of truly great storytelling.

Usually it’s a sign you’re in trouble when a screenplay has five credited writers. If three of them happen to be Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, and Damon Lindelof, the trio behind J.J. Abrams’s super successful Star Trek reboot, then you might actually be better off than first impressions dictate. Surprisingly, Cowboys & Aliens does feel like a cohesive screenplay, and it never really flies off the rails the way a lot of recent blockbusters tend to. I’d say the first half of the movie may be some of the best setup work I’ve seen in quite some time, not to mention the great western vibe and classic visual flair, and I really enjoyed the way everything fell into place. The ending is a little bit less satisfying than it should be, and suffers from a reigned in approach that matches its cramped production schedule and relatively tight budget. It does a good job of not overshooting what it can deliver, and succeeds at what it’s trying to accomplish, you just can’t help shake the feeling that it could’ve been so much more.

On the casting front, this is really a dream group. Daniel Craig makes for a striking and genuinely intimidating presence, giving Jake Lonergan a level of badass that rivals his alter ego of super spy James Bond. Craig’s accent is surprisingly good throughout, though he often settles for gravely tones when things get too intense. Olivia Wilde may feel like an odd choice at first glance, but it’s by design, and without revealing any spoilers, the movie does a good job of giving you exactly what you need to know about each character for each moment. The twists aren’t earth shattering, but it’s still nice to have a good amount of misdirection to give them some added weight. The greatest asset to the production is Harrison Ford who hasn’t looked this alive in a movie for many years. He leans into Woodrow Dolarhyde with the gusto of a legend who’s been biding his time for a part just like this one. Clearly he had a blast, as he’s already signed up to play Wyatt Earp in another upcoming film. I guess it must be something about brimmed hats…

What’s nice about the film is that it really takes its time, choosing to linger on the stunning landscapes and build characters between the action sequences instead of just plowing blindly ahead. Most of the third act hasn’t been seen in any of the marketing campaign, and you’ve got to give credit to Favreau for gambling that the earlier footage will be enough to get people in the door. These days not seeing everything in a trailer feels like a rarity, and though the payoff isn’t as good as it could have been, it does hit home harder because we don’t already know what happens. There are a couple legitimately disturbing moments here and there as well, but they are fleeting and rarely capitalized upon, preferring to wallow in well-worn tropes like the slowly revealing flashback.

Honestly, you really can’t go wrong with Harrison Ford in a cowboy hat, and that alone should make this worth a look. Beyond that, you’ve got a fairly original premise and a cast that could improv their way through the blandest material imaginable. The fact that it happens to be a well constructed narrative with fairly three dimensional characters is almost a bonus, and it holds its own far better than expected among the summer’s better efforts. Don’t set your personal expectations through the roof, and you will have no trouble enjoying the ride.