Cowboys & Aliens (2011)

In 1873 Arizona, a man (Daniel Craig) awakens with no previous memory. When he arrives in the nearest town, he is arrested by the sheriff (Keith Carradine) for robbery and murder and put in jail. But when the town is suddenly attacked by alien spaceships which kidnap many of the town's citizens, the mysterious stranger becomes the town's only hope. With IRON MAN, director Jon Favreau proved it was possible to take a comic book summer blockbuster and turn it into an intelligent, creative and witty film. Based on a graphic novel, before the opening credit sequence is even finished, Favreau opens COWBOYS & ALIENS with panache and a punch and you relax knowing you're in good hands. Favreau knows what he's doing. The idea is so irresistible that you wonder why nobody had thought of it before and Favreau delivers what he promises. The very concept is rife with comic possibilities and he utilizes them but never patronizes the western genre. I'm not a fan of CGI but I have to admit this has some of the best I've ever seen. Of the actors, Harrison Ford rouses himself out of his recent lethargy and gives a nicely etched character performance as a grizzled land baron by way of Walter Huston. There's a stand out of a score by Harry Gregson-Williams when he's not competing with the ear splitting sound effects. A fine cast that includes Sam Rockwell, Olivia Wilde, Paul Dano (THERE WILL BE BLOOD), Adam Beach and Clancy Brown. Good fun!