Cowboys & Aliens

Impressions before seeing it
I really liked how the trailer was set up: it started off looking like a plain old Western movie and then aliens attacked in a "Whoa, this is crazy" moment. I was interested, but a concept like that can either be really cool or really stupid.

How was it?
The last time Western was mashed up with sci-fi, we got Firefly, though that was quite a different experience so there's no need to make this a post comparing the two. Maybe the way to say it is that Firefly is more sci-fi than Western, and Cowboys & Aliens is more Western than sci-fi, and we'll leave it at that.

The reason I say it's more Western than sci-fi is because I came to the conclusion mid-viewing that this movie basically is a Western with the cowboys fighting aliens instead of Indians. It's a simple substitution, so I would hesitate to even call it sci-fi at all if not for aliens and space ships being regarded as sci-fi subject matter. I was constantly spotting common Western elements, like the violent, arrogant drunk causing trouble in town, and the enemy kidnapping loved ones so that a band of cowboys has to track them and rescue the victims, and the film's overall mindless simplicity for the sake of pure entertainment. Well, maybe it was a little more complicated than the average John Wayne movie, but not by too much. The cast was enjoyable - notably Harrison Ford as the type of grouch he's known for playing, and Paul Dano as the arrogant yet spineless prick he's not known for playing - and the action sequences were fun. There wasn't a lot of time spent on these 1800's cowboys marveling at the strange technology and creatures, which probably would have gotten in the way of the story's progress, but I liked that they never actually used the word "alien", not being familiar with science fiction in that period, instead referring to them as demons because they're Christians and it's the type of thing they would think. Almost surprising, though, to think that before this movie no one has really thought of fantasizing history and having aliens attack other time periods. It always occurs in present day. They could have just as easily done Knights & Aliens, though I suppose Westerns are more of a blockbuster genre than medieval period epics, and if it were medieval then people might mistake it for a sci-fi/fantasy mash-up, which would be less of a stark genre contrast.

I do have to say that, except for the concept itself, Cowboys & Aliens felt a little contrived. It felt like they borrowed a lot and did what was typical rather than what was unexpected. Olivia Wilde's character was the spike in the punch bowl, adding something different and unpredictable as far as her back story goes, but that spike almost ruined the party for me. I think it added an extra element that needlessly complicated things and slightly derailed the focus from the cowboys and the aliens. But hey, Daniel Craig's crazy alien bracelet was cool.

Recommendation
If you just go in thinking of it as a mindless action movie, you'll probably have fun. Just don't expect it to be groundbreaking or mindblowing. I liked it for what it was, but was slightly disappointed for what it could have been.