Cowboys & Aliens Review

 

*Warning: Spoilers ahead!*

I shouldn't have taken almost a month off from blogging. My bad. Especially since my Captain America: The First Avenger review was my most-read article yet. I'm not going to blame laziness, that would be too easy and correct; instead i'll blame the fact i'm watching Batman: The Animated Series again. 

That and the final season of Entourage. Also i'm playing through Deus Ex: Human Revolution and spending time playing the Call of Duty: Black Ops Rezurrection DLC. Yeah I blame Activision, that'll work. Gets everyone else through the day.

Speaking of video games, I haven't reviewed a new game for a while. This is partly because there has been nothing of note out in the past three months. In fact, Deus Ex: Human Revolution is the first game i've bought since L.A Noire back in May (not including DLC or map packs).  I may review Deus Ex, but i'm not promising. 

Hopefully i'll have more video game stuff going up soon. The problem with reviews is you have to play through the game first, which usually ranges from 10-40 hours. So by the time i've finished playing, the games been out for weeks and nobody needs a review then. So I may do other video game articles, we'll see.

Anyway, I seemed to have gone off on a tangent. 

So I went to see Cowboys & Aliens on Saturday. Its been out for two weeks now and seems to have dropped off everyones radars. It kinda, sorta, bombed in the USA. It was beaten by The Smurfs in the box office on its first week of release, which surprised pretty much everyone. In the UK, everyone decided to go see The Inbetweeners Movie and forget everything else ever existed. So Cowboys & Aliens fell by the wayside here too.

In fact, the showing I went to only had about eight people in it. This was a midday showing on a Saturday. So poor form really. However, in terms of money, the film has grossed $128 million worldwide so far on a $168 million budget, so it should easily recoup through home release.

Anyway, here are my thoughts on Jon Favreau's latest...

 

• I didn't know what to expect going in to this film. I thought it might be campy, or the premise played for laughs. However, this is a very good, solid summer blockbuster. I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

• The film works so well because it is played completely straight. There isn't the slightest hint of goofiness or camp anywhere at all. However, that's where the problem lies. This is a straight-up Western film with hints of Sci-fi, but the title implies something completely different. The title 'Cowboys & Aliens' is too pulpy and trashy for a film of this kind. I think this is why the film has struggled to find an audience in cinemas. No-one knows what to expect. The title sounds like a straight-to-DVD B movie. When that isn't the case at all. It's a shame really, because in a summer where we've had such garbage as Transformers 3 and Green Lantern (allegedly, I haven't seen it myself, so going on word-of-mouth here), audiences have missed out on good movie.

• It was so refreshing to see a film actually filmed on location and not just in front of a green screen. How much better films are for real locations like that. You can't replicate real beauty in the world using a computer. I really enjoyed the cinematography of this movie, some of the locations were gorgeous to look at. In fact, the CGI in this film is really well-done. It's not in your face, it's not overly-distracting, and it's used only where necessary.

• The plot is straight-up Western material, except there are aliens involved. It's a simple plot and it works. Aliens kidnap residents of this small mining town and the town teams-up to defeat the aliens and get them back. You could replace the aliens with Indians or outlaws and you've got yourself a John Wayne movie. Again, it's refreshing to have a film with a simple, engaging plot that doesn't have ten different sub-plots going on or a 45 minute sequence where Shia Labeouf looks for a job for no reason. (I apologise that aspects of Transformers 3 still creep into my reviews, but it was the WORST THING EVER MADE BY ANY HUMAN EVER. It's hard to forget, i'm still recovering.)

•  This was a very well-acted film with a great cast from top to bottom. Daniel Craig was born to play a cowboy. His mix of ruthlessness and sensitivity worked really well. Harrison Ford looked like he was having the most fun he's had in front of a camera for decades. When Ford cares and isn't there just to pick up a pay-cheque, he's a fantastic addition to any movie. At first I thought Olivia Wilde was playing her character really strange, however later on in the story it makes perfect sense and she was very solid in this. Sam Rockwell is awesome in everything, that's pretty much it.

• I have created a new game whereby if you spot someone Don Draper has slept with on Mad Men in any film, you score a point.  I'm up by one as I spotted Abigail Spencer. 

• I really like the aliens in this film. I can't say i've seen many of the alien films already released this year, so can't comment on what they look like, but the aliens in Cowboys & Aliens look really original and cool. They make sense from a physiology point-of-view and look both dangerous and menacing when seen. It also makes sense they struggle to operate in daylight as most planets don't have sunlight like we do. However, i'm not sure on the creepy arms. 

• "Why do they need gold? Are they going to buy things?". A lot of people are pointing out that the fact it's never explained why the aliens need gold is a plot-hole. Well it isn't. It doesn't affect the plot in anyway to know what they need it for. I like to see it that gold to the aliens is like oil to us, and they've depleted their supply on their planet and so are looking off-world for other sources. But that's just my interpretation. That's the fun of it.

Verdict:

To quote Rogert Ebert, "as preposterous moneymakers go, it's ambitious and well-made. The acting from the large cast is of a high standard, Craig and Ford were more or less born into their roles, and director Jon Favreau actually develops his characters and gives them things to do, instead of posing them in front of special effects."

This film won't be to everybody's taste, but in a summer of largely disappointing bloackbusters, Cowboys & Aliens deserves more recognition and attention. The title doesn't do the film justice, if you're a fan of westerns or aliens, you won't be disappointed. I mean, where else would you see James Bond and Indiana Jones team-up?

4/5

By ChoccyR with No comments

Captain America: The First Avenger Review

*WARNING! Major Spoilers ahead*

In the past week I’ve been to see two films at the cinema, Captain America: The First Avenger on Saturday, and finally after two weeks of waiting, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 on Tuesday.

Now pretty much everyone who wants to see Harry Potter has seen it at this point, so I wasn't sure whether a review was necessary. After all, the film has been out over three weeks now. 

However, I have decided to do a post looking back on the entire Harry Potter film series that will incorporate my thoughts on Deathly Hallows Part 2. So that will be posted sometime next week.

So back to Captain America.

I shall once again do my review in bullet point form because people actually enjoyed my Transformers 3 review when it was done like that. I feel that it makes it easier to read and also hopefully conveys my enthusiasm or lack thereof for the particular movie i'm focusing on.

Also I prefer doing it this way as it hides grammatical errors and paragraph issues a lot more. Clever, I know.

So without further ado, here are my thoughts on the final superhero movie of 2011 and the last Marvel film before the big team-up...

• First of all, this is a very good movie. Not perfect, but very good. Captain America to me is a much harder superhero character to put on screen, even more so than Thor. The character was essentially created as a propaganda tool during the Second World War and certainly has that element of cheese to them. Also in this current climate, it’s not exactly easy to market a character worldwide called Captain America. However, this is far from a cheesy movie and is very well made.

• The whole style of the movie felt very reminiscent of Steven Spielberg. It doesn’t surprise me that Director Joe Johnston was art director on the first two Indiana Jones flicks. This film almost feels like it’s a spiritual cousin.

• One thing I really enjoyed about this movie from a technical standpoint was that it wasn’t full of quick edits that plague most Hollywood blockbusters today. Johnston gives room for scenes to breathe and it helps establish the plot and the characters far better for it. It also adds to the old-school feel the movie has.

• The CGI for reducing Chris Evans into the small, skinny Steve Rogers is brilliant. There was maybe once in the entire film where it actually looked computer-generated. Other than that it was exceptionally done. In fact overall, the CGI was good in this film. It wasn’t too obvious (save for one scene with a high-speed train), and wasn’t as jarring as it can be.

• That being said, the prosthetics for Red Skull were also excellent. It managed to make Red Skull look intimidating and not silly, and was done so that you could still tell it was Hugo Weaving under there. This in turn humanised the character a lot more.

• Chris Evans is a very good Captain America. I can’t really think of anyone who would have been a better fit for the role and Evans captures the good, wholesome nature of Rogers very well. I'm very much looking forward to seeing how Joss Whedon and Chris Evans play with the whole fish-out-of-water scenario in The Avengers. I’m also looking forward to seeing Steve Rogers and Tony Stark clash egos.

• Hayley Atwell was by far the best thing is this film for me. She was not only super-hot; she was exceptionally fun to watch and made every scene she was in far more interesting. I thought she had good chemistry with Evans and had her badass moments too. A great performance.

• Hugo Weaving was well, Hugo Weaving. He’s always reliable as a villain and gives a solid performance. With it being an origin movie, the feud between himself and Captain America is rushed, but hopefully he’ll appear in a sequel so we see the two clash once more.

• Tommy Lee Jones and Stanley Tucci. I’ll lump them together because they are both terrific actors and play their respective roles well. It’s always a bonus to see either of these two in a movie and to get both really adds to the integrity of the picture.

• I was surprised when they first announced Dominic Cooper was going to be playing Howard Stark. However, he manages to channel both Robert Downey Jr. and John Slattery to give an entertaining performance. Now we know where Tony Stark got all that charisma from.

• The film suffers once again like all other on-screen origin tales in balancing the origin story within an overall narrative. The first half of the film is excellent but the second-half, once we get Captain America, does feel rushed in places in a bid to resolve the plot. Set-pieces move at fast pace from one to another, rattling along at full steam until the climax. It doesn’t make it bad by any means, it just means we don’t get to see the rivalry between Red Skull and Captain America develop fully.

• The Captain America costume actually looks good. It could have been so much worse but they tone down the colours and it does look like military attire spruced up for the Capt. I’ve also seen Comic Con pictures of the modern-day costume Rogers will be wearing in The Avengers and that looks even better.

• The cosmic cube is the mcguffin of the movie and is not something I know a lot about, and the film never really explains what it does. Were told it harnesses great energy, and it powers all of Hydra’s high-tech weaponry, but to those not privy to its history in the comics, it was a bit confusing. However, it relates back to Asgard and we see that S.H.I.E.L.D has it at the end of Thor, so it seems like it’s going to play some part in The Avengers.

• I get highly disappointed now whenever I watch a film and Samuel L. Jackson doesn’t turn up at the end. I really hope Nick Fury gets his chance to shine in The Avengers amongst all the heroes, because it’s Samuel L. Jackson, the man’s entire career has been based on the fact he is a total badass.

• I think it makes sense to have Captain America be in present day at the end of the film, ready for The Avengers next year, but it could have just as easily have been the prologue at the beginning of next year’s superhero team-up.

• I’ve mentioned The Avengers about six times so far and it’s hard to ignore it. However, Marvel has toned down the references to next year's all-star team-up in both Thor and Captain America, and it's clear they've learned from the fact it impeded the overall plot of Iron Man 2. The Second World War setting for the majority of this film also helped.

• The Marvel Cinematic Universe is shaping up very nicely indeed. Marvel is treating the source material with great respect and it’s a reason why The Avengers will be the big blockbuster of next summer other than The Dark Knight Rises. I personally can’t see how they can mess the film up with all the heroes (other than Hawkeye) already established and with Joss Whedon directing. Although I am quite intrigued in the role the Hulk will play because he’s probably harder to make work in this universe than even Thor.

• Overall, if I were to rank the Marvel Universe movies to date it would go: Iron Man, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, Iron Man 2 and The Incredible Hulk.

Verdict:

Of the two Marvel movies this year, I still prefer Thor, but Captain America: The First Avenger is a very good entry into the universe. It feels like an old-school Spielberg action romp and pretty much delivers on making Steve Rogers a relatable superhero. Suffers from the origin syndrome and feels rushed in the third act, but overall a very good and most importantly, entertaining, summer film.

4/5

By ChoccyR with No comments

My Top Ten Films of 2008

So here we are again with my top ten films of 2008. Even though it was three years ago, I still remember 2008 being a great year for film. There were a lot of great animations, comedies and also the beginning of the Marvel Universe, which will reach its pinnacle next year with The Avengers.

Speaking of which, I will hopefully do some kind of post over the next few days about Captain America: The First Avenger. I saw it on Saturday and it was very good. Unfortunately it's a lot easier to write about bad movies like Transformers 3 than it is about well-made movies.

So it can't imagine it will be too long but then again, I don't expect half my reviews to go on as long as they do. Curse my fantastic insight and opinions!

Anyway, I digress, here is my top ten films of 2008...

#10

HANCOCK

Ah Hancock, how it could've been so much more. It was a great idea, full of potential, with a great cast. I mean who doesn't love Will Smith? No-one. He's ace.

Unfortunately the execution isn't all there. The problem with this film was that it was essentially two scripts spliced together. So the first half of the movie deals with Hancock's alcoholism, his loneliness and his disregard for being a real 'superhero'. Frankly it's brilliant. Unfortunately it unravels half-way through when it reverts to a sub-par superhero flick. The second-half just doesn't follow through with the edgy satire the subject matter promised.

In the end the movie doesn't fully deliver. However, I still enjoyed it and and feel the first half of the movie alone deserves to be seen.

#9

STEP BROTHERS

As with the majority of people on this earth, I love Anchorman. It's extremely funny and endlessly enjoyable. However the follow-up from director Adam McKay and Will Ferrell, Talladega Nights, eh not so much. It had its moments but overall I felt it was exceptionally flawed. 

However, Step Brothers was a welcome return to form. It's very funny with great performances from Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly (who, in my opinion, was in one of the most under-rated comedies of the last decade: Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story).

#8

THE BANK JOB

"The most entertaining heist movie I've seen in years"- Richard Roeper At The Movies With Ebert & Roeper.

Sums it up pretty well to be honest. This is one of those 'good' Jason Statham movies, not one of the ones you watch because it's so bad it's good. This is generally a fantastic British film. Buy it, rent it, support it. You won't regret it.

#7

YES MAN

 An adaptation of my favourite book of all time with Jim Carrey and Zooey Deschanel as the leads?

Mark Oliver Everett, one of my favourite musicians, doing the soundtrack?

Rhys Darby?

It was a no-brainer really.

This is by no means a perfect comedy. But it takes the core concept of the book and turns it into an enjoyable movie. Jim Carrey is close to his comedic best and Zooey Deschanel is just as adorable as ever. A charming film that never grows tired.

#6

KUNG FU PANDA

This one kind of crept up on me. I can't say I really had high-expectations going in, even with the brilliant voice cast. I think it was just that it was a Dreamworks Animation film, and other than Shrek and Shrek 2, every other film they had put out was a bit meh.

This changed it though. This was the movie where Dreamworks stopped trying to clone Pixar movies and started going in their own direction. A great story with beautiful animation, it paved the way for Monsters vs Aliens, How to Train Your Dragon and Megamind to come afterward.

It got the formula right for a great animation film: something kids and adults alike can enjoy and laugh at. I only hope Kung Fu Panda 2 is as good or better (at time of writing I have yet to see it).

#5

WALL-E

Kung Fu Panda would have been my favourite animated movie of the year, except Pixar decided to release Wall-E. 

I was quite skeptical that even Pixar could pull off an animated kids film that has almost no dialogue in the first forty-minutes.  But oh boy did they pull it off.

Wall-E is a truly beautiful film. You can't help but fall in love with it. Even Chuck Norris weeps at the end. There's not much else to add- this is a special film.

#4

TROPIC THUNDER

Robert Downey Jr.

He's the reason this film is at number four. His performance as Kirk Lazarus is outstanding. The best thing in Tropic Thunder by a clear distance (yes even over Tom Cruise's Les Grossman), he turns in one the best comedic performances of the past five years. This was the year he re-joined the A list of Hollywood's elite.

However, the rest of the film also delivers. A solid comedy outing, the only negative thing about this movie is Jack Black's performance. Mainly because his character is so god damn annoying. A shame really, as anyone that knows me knows I love Jack Black (I'll defend Gullivers Travels for crying out loud!).

The film hasn't quite reached the Anchorman levels of cultural love that it hoped for, but it still stands tall as one of the better comedies of the noughties.

#3

FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL

Forgetting Sarah Marshall was the best comedy of 2008.

It actually stands as one of my favourite comedies of all time and also my favourite comedy from Apatow Productions (which if you look at it is quite impressive since they produced, deep breath,  Anchorman, Superbad, Knocked Up, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Walk Hard, Step Brothers, Get Him to the Greek and Bridesmaids amongst others).

But the fact is I love Jason Segel. He's an inspiration to me because not only is he a really nice guy, he's also a very talented writer.

As Matt Pais of the Chicago Tribune said, "it's the kind of movie you could watch all day because, like a new flame, you can't get enough of its company and are just glad to see where it takes you."

I really couldn't put it any better myself. The fact that the movie has seemingly moved into cult status makes me a very happy man indeed. This film deserves its plaudits and your love.

#2

IRON MAN

This is where the Marvel Universe began. The movie that started it all. It's funny that it was three years ago since Samuel L. Jackson popped up at the end and mentioned the 'Avengers initiative'. 

Cut forward three years and we've had The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger. None of which would have been possible without Iron Man.

Jon Favreau and Robert Downey Jr. took a superhero not really known outside of geek circles and made him a force to rival Superman and Batman. It showed Marvel that people weren't sick of superhero movies in general, just sick of the mistreatment of the source material. 

Some may argue that the film suffers like many other origin stories in the second half after Tony Stark becomes Iron Man. However, I think this movie does it better than all the others, even Batman Begins. I mean Jeff Bridges is the villain! How can it not be awesome?

I can honestly admit I was never a huge Iron Man fan before this movie, but it was a great surprise and I came out the screening with a smile on my face. 

Roll on May 4th 2012

#1

THE DARK KNIGHT

But you already knew this right? 

Anyone that knows me knows how much I love The Dark Knight.

It's my favourite film of all time. It's perfect.

Growing up, I used to spend weekend mornings watching the 60s television series starring Adam West with my dad. I had loads of different toys and figurines. I've seen every other Batman film about 148 times each (other than Batman & Robin).

Batman was the entire definition of my childhood. It's something I hold very dear to my heart and always will. As I grow older, I only become more passionate about the entire franchise.

Batman Begins is a fantastic movie, if we were doing a 2005 list, it would be number one. But this film surpassed it. 

The casting was perfect. To this day I'll argue with anyone who wants to hear how Aaron Eckhart deserved a Best Supporting Actor nomination alongside Heath Ledger. Ledger, well it was the best individual acting performance in the last thirty years of cinema.

Some people argue that the second act drags in places, not to me. The film is perfectly paced, the story wonderfully told. It's the Batman film every single Batman fan waited 60 years for. 

I only hope next years' The Dark Knight Rises ends the series as well as it started. I'm counting down the days already. 

My favourite film of 2008.

By ChoccyR with No comments