Review: Cowboys & Aliens

I’ve got to say it. This year’s summer movie season has left me disappointed. I remember it was only a few months ago when I was about to see Thor. There were more comic book movies coming out this year than you could count on one hand. The law of averages notwithstanding I hoped that there would be a cornucopia of geekyness at the theaters. Such is life I guess.

Now according to IMDB, Cowboys & Aliens is based on a graphic novel from 2006. The story is that aliens come to Earth and start terrorizing a down-on-their-luck mining town in the middle of nowhere. Daniel Craig plays Jason Bourne, er I mean Jake Lonergan, a cowboy who wakes up at the start of the movie with amnesia and a strange bracelet attached to his left arm. Amazingly, he is one kick-ass fighter and has a heroically, chivalrous conscience. I swear I’ve seen that somewhere before.

Then there is Harrison Ford who plays … himself maybe, while trying to avoid looking like Indiana Jones. But, everyone else calls him Colonel Dolarhyde. That’s not really fair, but it was one comparison that cannot be avoided. But, the thing is, I liked him as an Indiana Jones clone. The character was practically begging to be replaced with Indy and he carries the movie IMO.

From here on, there will be spoilers, but I’ll leave that for after the jump. It’s probably not a surprise, but I didn’t like Cowboys & Aliens all that much. I give it 3 out of 5 stars. And I had better remember to do a word search on this before I hit publish because I keep typing Cowboys vs. Aliens instead of Cowboys & Aliens. I think that name would have been better for some reason.

Here’s a list of sci-fi memes and nods that will caught my attention:

The people catching traps look like big face huggers from Aliens. The aliens swoop around like the Wraith from Stargate: Atlantis and snatch people up. And my memory is a bit fuzzy, but the sound of the alien aircraft could have been really similar to the Wraith Darts. Upon making the connection, I assumed that the people would be captured and kept for food and I can’t really say that I was wrong. They never showed what the aliens ate.

Daniel Craig’s hat keeps getting kicked around like Indiana Jones’ fedora.

The bracelet around Daniel Craig’s wrist was a left over prop from Iron Man. But what’s odd about it is that he can’t take the thing off until the proper cue is given in the third act. I reminds me of the Mummy Returns where the kid can’t take off the golden bracelet either.

And in the final battle, the aliens swarm out of their tunnels like … Aliens. The Sigouney Weaver variety of Aliens. And they practically lined up to get blown up. It’s like these creatures figured out space travel but forgot basic infantry tactics.