Joshua Palmatier (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
jpskewedthrone) wrote2011-08-03 02:48 pm
jpskewedthrone) wrote2011-08-03 02:48 pm
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Movie Review: Cowboys & Aliens
This movie was my most anticipated movie of the summer, because it was a new idea, not Smurfs 5 or soemthing. I watched the first trailer and thought, WHOA! and ever since have not allowed myself to see any trailers because they usually spoil a ton of stuff in the movie for me. (One of the disadvantages of being a writer: you can piece together plot fairly easily with little to no details.)
So, this past weekend I was bouncing in my seat waiting to see this. And now that I've seen it . . . well, it didn't live up to my expectations. This is not to say it wasn't a good movie, but I had high hopes that it would blow me away, like Inception did last summer. I WANTED it to blow me away, and there were some cool scenes in here, but the whole package just didn't make it up into the "great" category.
The premise is fairly simple: aliens have come to earth and have landed in the great American West, during the time of cowboys, stagecoaches, and riverboats. Jake wakes up with no memory and with a metallic wristband. He saunters into town to find out who he is. Just as things were going bad to worse for him, the aliens attack. Of course, no one knows what they are at this time period, but they know they're abducting their family and friends from town. They want Jake to help them rescue them all. Initially, he doesn't help out, but then he remembers that his girlfriend was abducted as well, so he goes along to try to save her.
My basic issue is with the first half of the movie. It takes a while for the setup, although I don't see how that could have been shortened much. But then there's a long sequence where they're following a wounded alien trying to find their main base, and that's where it drags a little. Once they find the main base, things pick up and the movie ends with a bang. So I felt it could have been tightened up more and certainly that lull in the middle needed to be dealt with.
Some of the good elements were that they did spend some time on actual character development. And as I said, the action of the last half of the movie worked fairly well. The plot held together, but it worked better as a western than a sci-fi movie. (I stole this last from Patricia Bray![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
pbray.) I was simply . . . hoping for more. The premise appeared to have so much potential.
That said, it was much better than a couple of the other SF&F movies that have come out this summer. I look at you, Green Lantern. *evil eye*
So, this past weekend I was bouncing in my seat waiting to see this. And now that I've seen it . . . well, it didn't live up to my expectations. This is not to say it wasn't a good movie, but I had high hopes that it would blow me away, like Inception did last summer. I WANTED it to blow me away, and there were some cool scenes in here, but the whole package just didn't make it up into the "great" category.
The premise is fairly simple: aliens have come to earth and have landed in the great American West, during the time of cowboys, stagecoaches, and riverboats. Jake wakes up with no memory and with a metallic wristband. He saunters into town to find out who he is. Just as things were going bad to worse for him, the aliens attack. Of course, no one knows what they are at this time period, but they know they're abducting their family and friends from town. They want Jake to help them rescue them all. Initially, he doesn't help out, but then he remembers that his girlfriend was abducted as well, so he goes along to try to save her.
My basic issue is with the first half of the movie. It takes a while for the setup, although I don't see how that could have been shortened much. But then there's a long sequence where they're following a wounded alien trying to find their main base, and that's where it drags a little. Once they find the main base, things pick up and the movie ends with a bang. So I felt it could have been tightened up more and certainly that lull in the middle needed to be dealt with.
Some of the good elements were that they did spend some time on actual character development. And as I said, the action of the last half of the movie worked fairly well. The plot held together, but it worked better as a western than a sci-fi movie. (I stole this last from Patricia Bray
pbray.) I was simply . . . hoping for more. The premise appeared to have so much potential.That said, it was much better than a couple of the other SF&F movies that have come out this summer. I look at you, Green Lantern. *evil eye*