FOXSYLVANIA

 – – If you go to see no other movie this summer or even this year, go see Cowboys & Aliens, which just opened at theaters this Friday, July 29th.  In a summer filled with disappointments, re-makes, and movies which just should never have been made, Cowboys & Aliens shines brightly, truly a beacon in the darkness.  It boasts an innovative storyline, some superb acting, rich atmospherics, and quality special effects.   While absurd on the surface, the movie works, is well crafted, and totally cool!

Alien menaces have been the rage for the past several years now, and one hopes that such a mentality does not hold sway in a real first contact situation with Earth, or the Vulcans may get blown away when they touch down in the future.  Still, the human race loves to overcome differences to unite against overwhelming odds, and so it was in the western town of  Absolution in the New Mexican Territory circa 1873 when a group of nasty aliens came to harvest gold and humans; when a cattle incineration occurs, we almost expect to see Fox Mulder’s great-grandfather introduced.  Daniel Craig as the enigmatic Jake Lonergan and Harrison Ford as Col. Dolarhyde overcome technological limitations to whip some serious alien butt, in the process uniting diverse enemies and even getting an assist from Native Americans. – – You haven’t lived until you’ve seen vicious aliens peppered by arrows and pierced by a lance!  These aliens are vulnerable because they underestimated us, so they deserve what they get, ‘ya see, and even their inner set of arms won’t save them.

This isn’t a comedy or a spoof and is played straight, although western traditions are played off left and right.  Craig provides a variation on Clint Eastwood’s “man with no name” as the man with no memory who finds himself in the desert soon to be assailed by undesirables.  Fortunately Craig brought his James Bond fighting skills with him, and has a nifty wrist rocket gadget appropriated from the aliens that might have been developed by “Q” himself.  Equally tough as nails is Harrison Ford, looking splendid in the saddle and seemingly as miffed at  government as everyone else.  When James Bond and Indiana Jones get together, you’re in for a wild and fun ride!- – So what if it’s not Shakespeare.

I applaud intelligent and well-done crossover movies such as Cowboys and Aliens, and hope that we’ll see more of them!   When Craig’s character rides off at the end Eastwood-like, a sequel is all but begged for.  Perhaps a few aliens could be spared to vaporize the Smurfs that were playing in the adjoining theater…now that’s a menace!