COWBOYS & ALIENS.

Warning: This review has major spoilers. I try not to do that, but I couldn't help it for this one.

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Yes, there are cowboys. Yes, there are aliens. But how well do they play together? We're introduced to Jake Lonergan (Daniel Craig), a former outlaw who can't remember anything--including his name. And he has a strange metal device attached to his wrist. He soon stumbles into a nearby town that's run with an iron fist by Woodrow Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford) and his good-for-nothing son, Percy (Paul Dano). He meets some of the other inhabitants, including Doc (Sam Rockwell), Meacham (Clancy Brown), Sheriff Taggart (Keith Carradine), and the sheriff's son, Emmett (Noah Ringer). He also runs into a mysterious young woman named Ella (Olivia Wilde) who is very interested in Jake's past. But just when things are rough enough as it is, them darn aliens have to show up and make things even more complicated by kidnapping half the town. Now those left are forced to team up and find the alien base so they can rescue their loved ones. But this is still the old west, so they also have outlaws and Indians to deal with, too.

When I first saw the trailer, I was surprised at how serious the movie seemed to be taking itself. You'd think a movie with such a title would appear to be a lot campier. But I (and others) held hope that maybe the trailer was a bit off and figured it would still be campier in the film. However, while there are a few goofy moments... the movie plays pretty straight faced. And maybe to its detriment, that makes it come off like two different movies shoved together.

On the one hand we have a pretty solid western. An outlaw with amnesia wakes up in the desert, strolls into town, and takes care of a thing or two before getting shown for who he is. They have to deal with the tyrannical ruling of the man who keeps the town alive and, thus, must put up with his son. Eventually it becomes an adventure film and they must face other outlaws and angry Indians along the way. I'm not a huge fan of the genre, but I did like the normal aspect of this film quite a bit.

On the other hand, you have War of the Worlds mixed with Battlefield Earth. Aliens invade, take people prisoner to study them, and their reason for being here in the first place... is that they want gold. Yes, that's right. Gold. But you also have a decent alien abduction story with a man who was taken along with his lover, accidentally gets a super-weapon attached to his arm, escapes, and helps fight back and destroy the invaders. It's actually not quite as strong as the western element, and there are parts of it that don't feel like they meld well.

Fortunately, everybody seems to be having a good time in the film. Well, Daniel Craig is relatively stoic as always, but everybody else seems to be having a good time. Harrison Ford is really good as the gruff tyrant-esque businessman/cowboy. My only real complaint about him is that his character arc has a notch missing somewhere in the middle. He starts as... not a good person. By the end, he's good. But there's somewhere in the middle when this transition starts that feels as if it missed a beat, some drastic moment that begins his change (besides his son being taken). And speaking of Paul Dano, he was hilarious in this movie. He was probably my favorite part, at least his interactions with Daniel Craig, and it's sad that he's not in it a whole lot. Though Sam Rockwell is pretty good, too. The one that kinda bugged me the most was Olivia Wilde. As soon as she was introduced, I felt she was out of place. And then I was like "she's an alien," because she--well--looked like one. Her head was bulbous in this movie. And what do you know...

I think the best thing I can say about this movie is that I don't feel like I wasted my time or money. I was entertained while watching it (though it is a tad bit too long). But as others have said, there's not a whole lot that's very memorable about it. I think that's in large part due to how serious it took itself. It didn't allow for camp or cheesy one-liners or epic dialogue. Had it loosened up a bit, I think it could have been a lot more than what we got. But still, it was entertaining enough.


Stop Saying OK! OK.

Short Review: The Next Three Days.

Premise: After his wife is accused of murder with no chance of release, a man plans an elaborate escape to get her out and take her and their son to a foreign country to live outside the grip of the law.

Starring: Russell Crowe, Elizabeth Banks, Ty Simpkins, Olivia Wilde, Jason Beghe, Aisha Hinds, Liam Neeson, Jonathan Tucker, RZA, Kevin Corrigan, and Daniel Stern.

My Reaction: I really enjoyed the first hour of set-up and planning. While some might see it as a bit too slow, I felt the slow burn would lead up nicely to the second hour of action. Unfortunately, the action is only in the last 20 minutes or so. The 40 minutes in between the first hour and the last 20 minutes are where most of my major problems with this movie lie. First, it loses some steam. Second, it starts to feel redundant. And third, it just drives home my biggest issue with the movie as a whole: she (the wife) is so not worth it. She's a total witch, and I honestly couldn't see why he would go through so much trouble for her--especially the scene where the movie gets particularly dark and he decides to follow a drug dealer (the Jonathan Tucker/Kevin Corrigan scene). However, the break-out and subsequent on-the-run sequence is a lot of fun, making you wonder if they'll get away with it. Otherwise, not a big Russell Crowe fan, but I think he did fine with it. The movie is mostly entertaining for being a pseudo-heist film... it's just the lengths he goes to in comparison to what he's trying to obtain doesn't seem worth it overall. And most importantly, the title makes little sense, as it alludes to (mostly thanks to the trailer) the three days after the "heist," while the movie is about everything leading up to and then the actual attempt. The results are only visited for about 2 minutes. But maybe that's just me reading into it wrong.


I Am McLovin!

TRON: LEGACY.

This is awfully late, I know. But better late than never. Tron: Legacy picks up not long after the first film. Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) becomes obsessed with creating a perfect Grid--the virtual world--even to the point he creates a virtual version of himself named Clu. Flynn, Clu, and Tron (Bruce Boxleitner) work together to make the perfect world. But after a certain event, Clu turns on them, forcing Flynn out into the outlands so that he misses his window to get back to Earth. Because of this, his son--Sam (Garrett Hedlund)--must be raised by his grandparents, as well as Flynn's friend, Alan (also Bruce Boxleitner). After getting a message that seems to be from his father, Sam ends up in the Grid and must find his father--with the help of a young woman named Quorra (Olivia Wilde)--and escape before his own window closes and he can't get home.

Yeah, that's about it on the plot. They have to escape before the time window closes. There's a little subplot about perfect beings and destroying everything bad about the real world, but it's the one thing about the plot I didn't feel should be spoiled (if you want any kind of surprises, that is). The main problem? This movie is slightly over 2 hours long. That is definitely not enough plot to require that length. There should have been at least 30 minutes trimmed off. Around the middle or so, I actually felt so bored I wanted to fall asleep.

Besides that, though, there's not a whole lot that bugged me. To be honest, I was never a huge fan of the original movie, and those visual effects are so dated it's ridiculous. And considering the visual effects is what it's all about, it makes the original very difficult to watch at times. However, I always felt that if they attempted the film today, it would help tremendously. And you know what? It does. The visuals for this film are gorgeous. They really are outstanding. Everything is a lot of fun, and there is just a detail to everything that is amazing.

To add to the visuals is the awesome action. The movie starts as somewhat of a heist film in the real world which is fun. But once you get into the Grid, that's when things really get fun. From light cycle races to the ring destructo game and more, the action (well, and the visuals) is truly the reason to see this movie.

Acting-wise, everybody did a fine job. The only person to really bother me was actually Michael Sheen, who was a bit too crazy and over-the-top for my tastes. Though that's probably more of a directorial complaint than an acting one. And Olivia Wilde is gorgeous as always. Also... random Cillian Murphy appearance, WTF?

The only other thing I wanted to bring up was the fun soundtrack by Daft Punk. Sure, a lot of it seemed to be the same song on repeat, but it did vary it just enough to be good. Otherwise, I think it's clear what word best describes the movie for me: fun. It's not a great film, particularly thanks to the lackluster plot that tries to stretch itself out over 2 (at times quite long) hours. But the visuals and action are great and are really the main reasons to see this movie.


I Am McLovin!