Cowboys & Aliens

It sounds like a dream come true for all movie buffs: Indiana Jones Harrison Ford battling aliens in the Wild West with James Bond Daniel Craig alongside Tron beauty Olivia Wilde, directed by Iron Man maker Jon Favreau. But has Favreau actually succeeded in living up to the high expectations with this film adaptation of Scott Mitchell Rosenberg's iconic graphic novel? The answer is an unequivocal yes!

The film is set in 1873: unable to remember his name or his previous life, a man (Daniel Craig) awakens in the Arizona desert. On his arm is a strange cuff of metal that cannot be removed. Completely confused, the man makes it to the small town of Absolution, but that's where the trouble begins for him. For not only does he incur the hatred of Percy's (Paul Dano) father, the powerful cattle baron Woodrow Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford), by bravely attacking him while shooting indiscriminately. It also turns out he's a wanted criminal, which lands him right in the cell next to Percy. But before the stranger and his cellmate can be transferred to the next larger prison, the unthinkable happens: Absolution is attacked by alien flying machines of extraterrestrial origin and numerous inhabitants are abducted. Now it's up to the nameless inmate to join Dolarhyde, the mysterious Ella (Olivia Wilde) and other residents of Absolution in the fight against the aliens to save the abductees. But along the way, some unforeseen dangers stand in your way.

director Jon Favreau has assembled some great talent both in front of and behind the camera for Cowboys & Aliens. Whether Lost co-writer Damon Lindelof, Steven Spielberg as executive producer or Black Swan cinematographer Matthew Libathique and Mary Zophres, who has already created the costumes for True Grit or Catch me if you can - they all ensure that Harrison Ford, Daniel Craig, Olivia Wilde and the other actors have been put in the right light. And so it's really no surprise then that from a purely workmanlike point of view there's hardly anything to fault about this sci-fi/Western mix.

The pictures are beautiful, the special effects convincing, the action sequences grippingly staged and the actors beyond reproach. Harrison Ford in particular is simply perfectly cast as a power-hungry and ruthless cattle baron. But even though all these elements are right, Cowboys & Aliens still doesn't leave an all-around positive impression in the end. This may be due to two factors: The first is the almost complete lack of humor. Sure, the unusual mix may work in the first place precisely because the creators took the story and graphic novel template seriously. But because the premise sounds so wonderfully absurd, a certain expectation simply grows in the interested viewer that includes a high fun factor. And even though Cowboys & Aliens has an extremely high entertainment value, the fun unfortunately comes far too short.

The second factor that could hurt the overall positive impression is the fact that the cowboys and thus the western elements are given much more time than the aliens. Thus, the entire middle section is actually completely a traditional western with hardly any action and only minor suspense. This is still extremely watchable thanks to the good actors, the great set (especially the set of an old paddle steamer is really great) and the engaging camerawork. But still, it would have done the film a lot of good if Favreau had picked up the pace here more often and sprinkled in a few more sci-fi elements.

Despite these weak points, Cowboys & Aliens is still the best cinema entertainment, whose original basic idea and the team of Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig are enough to justify a visit to the cinema. Not the hoped-for bull's eye, but also no reason to ride frustrated into the sunset. Therefore: with small deductions absolutely worth seeing!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp