Posts
2011, 08-02:
Review of film: “COWBOYS & ALIENS”
Some friends expressed “reservations” about seeing this film produced by Steven Spielberg, claiming the story-line seemed “far-fetched”...
... The plot line DIDN’T bother me in the slightest, since I quite like both genres (Westerns & sci-fi), & many other genres (such as “VAMPIRE” stories & “slasher” films) strike me as far more implausible...
... For that matter, way back in 1935, there was a SCI-FI western 12-chapter SERIAL movie from Mascot called “THE PHANTOM EMPIRE”, made with Gene Autry & utilizing the fictional “Scientific City of MURANIA”...
... Furthermore, a number of MODERN sci-fi stories have been “based” on classic Western “shoot-out” type themes, & some (such as “STAR TREK”) have even had their main characters go BACK in time to the “Old West” for story lines...
... As this NEW “COWBOYS & ALIENS” movie starts, it’s 1873 in the Arizona Territory & a man -- who we later learn is named Jake Lonergan (played by DANIEL CRAIG) -- awakens in the desert, not remembering anything...
... He’s upset to realize that he has a bloody injury on his right side, and a strange huge BRACELET on his left arm which he’s unable to get off...
... Soon after he “awakens”, a bunch of bearded guys ride up on horses, accompanied by a black & white dog, & the guys THREATEN him & demand he give them answers to certain questions...
... He doesn’t know the answers, but, since he’s a super-tough gunslinger & fighter, he’s able to disarm & KILL his attackers-- after which he takes some clothes from them & rides off with the dog as a companion...
... Daniel in time arrives in a nearby town, ironically called Absolution. He enters a store, where a man who finds him helpfully looks at his bleeding side wound...
... As the man stitches up Daniel’s deep gash, he comments on how it’s a strange-looking injury that was not caused by a bullet, & looks almost “cauterized” by some kind of intense heat...
... On the town street, an arrogant young guy named Percy Dolarhyde (PAUL DANO) is harassing various townspeople including meek shop-owner Doc (SAM ROCKWELL) & his beloved wife Alice (ABIGAIL SPENCER)...
... A young kid named Emmett Taggart (NOAH RINGER) watches the proceedings with fascination (as he watches numerous other goings-on in the town)...
... Paul tells people about how he can do what he “wants” since his rich father virtually “OWNS” the town. Disliking bullies, when Paul starts ragging on him, DANIEL responds in a way that “SILENCES” him immediately... Paul soon grabs a gun & starts shooting wildly, which causes him to be JAILED...
... Daniel is looked-upon as a “HERO” in town, & goes into the saloon for a number of drinks... There, a pretty woman named Ella Swenson (OLIVIA WILDE) sidles up to him, asks questions (which he dislikes answering) & speaks mysteriously about how she can “HELP” him with things she "knows"...
... Soon, the sheriff arrives in town with his deputies. He hears what Daniel had done with Paul, & realizes he’s the same guy pictured on a “WANTED” poster for stealing some gold coins...
... He goes into the saloon with his deputies to confront Daniel, telling him “WHO” he is & eventually (after a fight starts) locking him up next to Paul in jail...
... The scene shifts to Paul’s associates who’ve gone to tell his FATHER Woodrow (HARRISON FORD) what had happened to Paul... (Harrison used to be a “Colonel” in the Civil War, but he now hates that title...)
... Harrison had adopted a Mexican / Indian guy named Nat Colorado (ADAM BEACH), who tries to give a “realistic” accounting of the events, wherein he says Paul was at fault for what happened... But Harrison still demands that his employees ride with him to FREE Paul...
... Harrison & his gang ride into town at nite after the Sheriff had put Paul & Daniel in a sort of jail wagon to take them to a judge in another town...
... As Harrison starts demanding the RELEASE of his son, the town is attacked by some strange craft flying thru the AIR & SHOOTING-UP the area...
... Thru bars on the wagon, Daniel sees the aircraft & is surprised when his bracelet band is suddenly “ACTIVATED” with strange sounds and lights... By aiming it at the aircraft, he’s able to DISABLE one of them (causing it to crash) & to also get OUT of the jail wagon...
... In the damaged street of the town, Harrison talks to Daniel and others & says he wants his son Paul turned over to him...
... But, OTHER aircraft come by & use sort of metallic ropes to SNATCH AWAY Paul & Sam’s wife (&, possibly also the SHERIFF) into the flying machines...
... Daniel uses his bracelet to try to hit OTHER of the aircraft, & eventually gets them to leave the area...
... While Harrison wants to go “AFTER” the aircraft & the missing townspeople, Daniel has his own “agenda”...
... When Daniel visits a cabin out in the countryside, he sees the HOLE in the roof caused by a previous aircraft attack, & at one point starts recalling things his memory had forgotten, namely, how he’d once stolen some gold coins which had seemingly been “GRABBED” by one of the attacking alien AIRCRAFT...
... Eventually, Daniel JOINS the group led by Harrison (& including Sam, Olivia, Adam & Noah) which is going “AFTER” the aircraft to try to recover their loved ones (including Noah’s relative)...
... At one point, Daniel meets up with some of his old GANG members, who are none too thrilled at the way he’d taken off with the group’s gold & the like... But, he tries to get them to come along to try to find the “HEADQUARTERS” of the Aliens in a mountain area...
... As they get closer to the Aliens, more AIRCRAFT are sent out to attack the group pursuing them...
... Eventually, some Chiricahua INDIANS arrive to see why the “whites” have entered into “their” area of SW New Mexico... They dislike the bossiness of Harrison, but are pleased when his adoptee ADAM is able to speak their language...
... Olivia has a major “PROBLEM” from the fight against the aliens, & -- after a special “TWIST” --, the Indians see her as a sort of “SPECIAL” being, & like the fact that she can also speak to them in their tongue...
... Daniel & Harrison converse a lot to try to devise plans for attacking the Aliens when they FIND their “mothership” in the mountain rocks...
... But, the Aliens send out some violent 2-armed ALIEN CREATURES to DESTROY the humans who are after them...
... Those “direct” pursuits cause large FIGHTS to ensue, as the humans try to kill the Aliens with guns, spears, arrows, & any other means possible (including Daniel at times using his “magic” WRIST BRACELET to cause explosions)...
... Will the humans (led by Daniel) be able to FIND & rescue at least some of the “CAPTIVE” humans roped-in by the Alien aircraft?...
... Will Daniel find the “secret” of what the Aliens are really SEEKING here on Earth?... Will he, Olivia & others be able to “STOP” the Aliens?...
... Will they be able to get RID of the Aliens (at least temporarily”)?... What will “HAPPEN” to our main stars at the END of the film?!...
... I quite ENJOYED the movie overall, with its beautifully photographed scenic vistas, strong well-acted characters, impressive SPECIAL EFFECTS, & fine ACTION scenes...
... Naturally, being sci-fi, there are some “ANOMALIES”, such as: there’s periodic “inconsistency” in how the humans can KILL the persistent Aliens (sometimes, guns will achieve it, sometimes they won’t, etc.)...
... Another one is almost a “trademark” (whether “planned” or not): In this (-- & in “SUPER 8”, which ALSO had Spielberg working as a Producer --), it was UNCLEAR to me just WHY the “Aliens” has KIDNAPPED the Earthlings (in that, I never could logically understand just “what” they hoped to “GET” from the abductions)!...
... Nevertheless, it’s not “vital”, in that, in both cases, it gives the humans something extra to “DO”-- namely, battle to “RESCUE” their loved ones...
... Daniel & Harrison BOTH come across as believably “TOUGH” characters (despite some “doubts” some people might have had due to Harrison’s age), & they do a GOOD job in moving the story along...
... Because it SUCCEEDS at what it attempted to do & is FUN to experience, I’m rating this at 8.0 out of 10 stars...
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Ella explains why the aliens capture the humans in a short comment to Jake. She says they are studying us to find our weaknesses. This is so that they will have an advantage when they return to take over the planet. This is illustrated in Jake's flashback of his wife on the table next to him being operated on by an alien. When the alien is finished, she is terminated by a laser that turns her into ash.
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