The new western/sci-fi movie, Aliens and Cowboys, has been in the theaters for a few days now, and read a few negative reviews of this film prior to going to the local multi-plex to check it out myself. As it turned out, I thought it was a pretty entertaining flick! Now, a slight disclaimer here: I like a good Western, and I like Sci-Fi films, so I am naturally pre-disposed to like this odd genre combination.
So, going in, I felt that I was likely to enjoy the show, just because of my interests. But there are some specifics about this film that I did like and a few nit-picky things that bugged me to a small degree.
So, on with the movie review of Aliens and Cowboys (NOTE—Spoilers roam about here):
The Good:
Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig are great actors. Either of these leading men could carry this film on his shoulders and ride into the sunset with it, and the two of them brought a strong degree of acting ability to the screen. Also, the very beautiful actress Olivia Wilde turns in a quite good performance as a woman with, shall we say, an ambiguous identity. The supporting cast, including Sam Rockwell, Clancy Brown, and Keith Carradine, bring a depth to the cast that frankly, surprised me (having not checked in with IMDB ahead of time to see who besides the stars were in the movie). It was refreshing to see Harrison Ford put in a role that put him in position as a seriously tough hard-nosed, ruthless, and, at first glance, potentially evil character. Not tough in an Indiana Jones way, but as someone you REALLY do not want to cross.
The plot is actually pretty good. Skeptics and professionally- jaded critics scoff at the idea of aliens in the Old West, but the plot works. As with all movies not grounded in the hard concrete of the “real” world as we know it, a movie-goer must instill a certain amount of a willing suspension of disbelief in themselves to see a film. If it is ok (or expected), for aliens to show up invading Los Angeles in the present day (Battle: LA), or to turn themselves into hot rods (Transformers), or to come to earth as our all-powerful savior (multiple Superman films), or to look cute and eat brand-name candy (E.T.), then what is wrong with Aliens showing up in an historical period like the Old West? The question is asked in the movie, “Why are they here?” and the answer is actually quite logical. Gold! Aliens like gold too! Why is this logical? As any fan of Sci-Fi films or books can tell you, if Aliens ever did invade the earth, it would most likely be for resources like gold, platinum, or, (shudder), oil. If they breathe oxygen, they likely hale from a planet similar to earth, therefore, they would probably have similar resources, and, thus, similar scarcities in their resources. After all, why did the Spanish so lustily invade the lands of the Aztecs and Mayans? Gold! So, the aliens are just hard-working gold prospectors out to make a buck. And kidnap the occasional human to experiment upon in order to find out our weaknesses so they can defeat us on a global scale later on.
Olivia Wilde’s character is well-written, with a few clues as to her possible true identity buried in her dialogue. I did not “get it” until she suffered a major mishap about halfway through the movie, then I had an “AHA” moment as to her character’s reason for existing in this movie. This is a clever plot device which also allows us (and the period-piece characters) to learn more about the bad-guy aliens.
The Bad:
Not much to say negatively about this movie. A few characters could have been examined a bit more in-depth. After all, the supporting cast is great, why not let them stretch their characters? We don’t get the aliens side of the story, so the film is a bit human-centric. Imagine that.
The movie does not feature just Aliens and Cowboys, but also a pretty good showing by the local Apache tribe. Aliens and Indians may have been a more appropriate title, as from the Native American standpoint, everyone else, whether lighter-skinned humans or big ugly space creatures, are all alien to them and their land. Oh well.
One question arose (in discussion with my Dad, with whom I saw the movie), as to why, if the aliens have such cool energy-shooting weapons, did they swarm out of their ship/fortress unarmed and engage the Cowboys and Indians (couldn’t resist throwing that cliché in) without their weapons. After discussion, we decided that the big uglies with the weapons were the hired guns, and the rest of the alien posse were just gold prospecting workers who were told to go out and deal with the pesky humans. Presumably, in alien economies, the armed mercenaries are pricier than grunt labor, so there are fewer aliens with guns than workers. Hey, if they can come here for gold, then economics can account for a lot of their motivations and details. A bit of explanation for this good question could have been introduced as Olivia Wilde explained some of what she knew about the bad guys.
The Ugly:
The gold-stealing aliens are just that: Plain old Ugly! Just like we want them!
Aliens and Cowboys is well worth the price of admission. I enjoyed it and, if you can accept the idea of aliens coming to earth, than you can accept the idea that they want our gold, and that they are willing to kill us for it. Let me know what you think in the comments section below.