![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Daniel-Craig-in-Cowboys-and-Aliens.jpg\" "\\"Daniel")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
An uneasy blend of Western and science fiction is another reminder of the dangers of pandering to the Comic-Con mentality.<\/p>\n
Based on a 2006 graphic novel<\/a> by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg<\/a>, the story begins in 1873 when the enigmatic Jake Lonergan (Daniel Craig) wakes up in the Arizona desert with no memory and a mysterious device around his wrist.<\/p>\n On entering the local town he discovers a local lawman (Harrison Ford) is after him, but when mysterious alien forces attack, people soon realise this stranger might hold the key to their salvation.<\/p>\n The easiest way to describe the premise of Cowboys and Aliens is that it plays like an unholy mix of Unforgiven<\/a> (1992) and War of the Worlds<\/a> (2005), although it never really works as a western or an alien invasion movie.<\/p>\n Ultimately the biggest problem is that it never rises above its goofy high-concept premise and simply lurches from one set-piece to another, whilst scrambling to find coherence in half-baked clich\u00e9s.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a difficult film to fully analyse without giving too many plot spoilers away, but the twists range from the predictable to the ridiculous and the presence of five credited screenwriters is revealing.<\/p>\n This is not to say that the film is a total write off.<\/p>\n Director Jon Favreau<\/a> shoots the Western elements with some skill, making great use of the New Mexico landscapes and, in some scenes, cinematographer Matthew Libatique<\/a> brings the same visual pop \u00a0that made Iron Man (2008) so vibrant.<\/p>\n The look of the period is convincingly realised with the production design by Scott Chambliss and costumes by Mary Zophres, whilst the visual effects by ILM (supervised by Roger Guyett) are generally first-rate.<\/p>\n Whilst the cowboys are watchable, the aliens are walking clich\u00e9s that we\u2019ve seen before in many movies, with the same physical attributes, spacecraft and vague motives that characterise the sci-fi genre.<\/p>\n Although the opening is intriguing, by the end there is very little audiences haven\u2019t actually seen before, including: token memory flashbacks, gruff characters learning to become nice, and traditional enemies joining forces against a common enemy.<\/p>\n At one point, there also appears to be a deeply questionable visual reference to the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster<\/a>.<\/p>\n After a protracted development history over fourteen years, it bears the hallmarks of an idea that has been prodded and embellished with the sole intention of getting geeks excited<\/a> at Comic-Con<\/a>.<\/p>\n In fact, a quick look at the history of this project reveals that\u2019s exactly<\/em> what happened.<\/p>\n After the success of Iron Man<\/a>, perhaps Jon Favreau felt he owed something to the fans that went nuts<\/a> about the project at Comic-Con in 2007<\/a>\u00a0as\u00a0that film worked and gave a boost to his career.<\/p>\n But Iron Man 2 (2010) and Cowboys and Aliens are casebook studies of the perils of pandering to the fans: both surfed a wave of pre-release hype, but were proved inferior films when they finally came out.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Cowboys-and-Aliens-poster.jpg\" "\\"Cowboys")
<\/a>The huge gaping holes in the story are compounded by thinly written roles: Craig is uneasy as the mysterious loner; Ford hams it up as the cranky lawman; Wilde is utterly wasted in a curious role; and the supporting cast (including Sam Rockwell) is treated little better.<\/p>\n