Cowboys and Aliens
Again trying to catch up...
I'll try to spend less time filling this space with words and more time getting to the point here. That way, when I reread this I won't have the urge to punch myself as much.
Of the three movies I saw during my August 21st triple header, Cowboys and Aliens was the movie I liked the most. It was just ridiculous enough to be a lot of fun without being a complete mess... at least in my mind anyway. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't the cleanest movie by any stretch. Daniel Craig couldn't find one accent and stick with it for very long. And the movie did- at times- get way to bogged down in seriousness... (the whole father/son angle/triangle among Harrison Ford's Woodrow Dolarhyde, Paul Dano's Percy Dolarhyde, and Julio Cedillo's Bronc [I think it was... fact, is I don't remember the character's name... but he was a Native American] was a bit too mushy/tedious for my taste). But on the whole, the movie was indeed fun. I particularly enjoyed the typically grizzled (these days) Harrison Ford chewing up all his scenes and Paul Dano doing off-kilter as only he can. Olivia Wilde was also a nice touch (even if her character brought about the only true WTF moment... but still it was a WTF moment that I thought fit the movie well).
In the end, though, I suppose it was a far sloppier movie than Captain America was. Cap's tone was tighter and there really wasn't a misfire in the cast. Still, again, I go back to the utter ridiculousness of the premise. There's just something delightfully off about Old West meets Alien Invasion. I don't know, it just appealed to me. I was willing to go along with it where ever it went. Now might be a good time to mention that some of my favorite movies as I was... not precisely growing up... but getting older... were Tombstone, Frank and Jesse, and - much much more so- the first three Star Wars movies. In other words, I've always had a thing (if you will) for Sci Fi movies and westerns. This takes two of my all-time favorite types of movies and- admittedly a tad untidily- mashes them together in a genuinely fun movie. Sprinkle in some of my favorite actors (Harrison Ford and Paul Dano), add in two that I'd like to see more from (Daniel Craig and Olivia Wilde) and it was an easy buy-in for me.
I guess if I was being completely unbiased I'd say that the movie had issues deeper than what I am letting on here. But damn it, I wanted to like the movie so I'm going to like... for the most part. I also don't remember it quite as well as I should. At least specifics of it. I do remember liking it a lot when I saw it. But I suppose if the most memorable aspects of it are that Daniel Craig needs help with his old west accent and that the movie struggles to maintain what should have been a completely tongue-in-cheek, no solemnity in sight tone, I should downgrade it a touch. So... yeah...
Grade: B+
(just a touch above Cap on the B+ spectrum)
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