Cowboys & Aliens (2011)

All Critics (235) | Top Critics (44) | Fresh (103) | Rotten (131) | DVD (9)

What started as 'True Grit'-meets-'War of the Worlds' ends up closer to - whisper it - 'Wild Wild West'.

August 17, 2011 Full Review

Anna Smith

Time Out

Top Critic

Takes itself much too seriously, with acts of brutality outnumbering the gags.

August 8, 2011 Full Review | Comments (11)

Anthony Lane

New Yorker

Top Critic

Cowboys & Aliens is an agreeable time-killer, but I'll bet a couple of clever kids could make a livelier movie with a Woody puppet and a Predator doll.

July 31, 2011 Full Review | Comments (41)

David Edelstein

New York Magazine

Top Critic

[A] phenomenally successful two-man war against narrative clarity and continuity.

July 29, 2011 Full Review | Comments (28)

Christopher Orr

The Atlantic

Top Critic

A film that entertains, even if it doesn't live up to the full-on madness potential the title portended.

July 29, 2011 Full Review | Comments (3)

Laremy Legel

Film.com

Top Critic

It's just big silly fun, the kind you're supposed to have at a summer movie with a ridiculous title.

July 29, 2011 Full Review | Comments (23)

Tom Long

Detroit News

Top Critic

Expensive, a misfire, but perfectly servicable for what it is

January 14, 2013 Full Review

Roger Moore

McClatchy-Tribune News Service

Delivers on the promise of an exciting genre mash-up but, even with a talented cast and revered team of writers, fails to weave a fulfilling story.

October 2, 2012 Full Review

Ben Kendrick

ScreenRant

Patchy, if enjoyable in parts, but nowhere near as awesome as that title suggests it should be.

September 28, 2012 Full Review

Ali Gray

TheShiznit.co.uk

Jon Favreau's "Cowboys & Aliens" is a film that starts off with promise, but quickly loses its way as it tries to merge two different genres.

September 19, 2012 Full Review

Jeff Beck

Examiner.com

Rather refreshingly what-you-see-is-exactly-what-you-get: a western with aliens grafted on, or a sci-fi invasion film with cowboys grafted on--nothing more, nothing less.

February 1, 2012 Full Review

Michael Dequina

TheMovieReport.com

A mercilessly boring, wasted opportunity that forgets to have a sense of humor, charisma, or aliens.

January 29, 2012 Full Review | Comment (1)

R. L. Shaffer

IGN DVD

... A dour affair that fails to capture the spirit of either genre.

December 28, 2011 Full Review | Comment (1)

Greg Maki

Star-Democrat (Easton, MD)

While we were hoping and rightly expecting some old school magic from the director of Iron Man, the director of Iron Man 2 showed up.

December 23, 2011 Full Review | Comment (1)

Jordan Hiller

Bangitout.com

'Reach for the skies' has a whole new meaning now. The science-fiction Western 'Cowboys & Aliens' is an entertaining, genre-blending romp. It's a serious movie, too - a drama with comedic moments - and that makes it all the more exciting.

December 22, 2011 Full Review

Linda Cook

KWQC-TV (Iowa)

Not the Boys Own Adventure it could have been, but a fun - if often flawed - romp.

December 13, 2011 Full Review

Laurence Boyce

The Baltic Times

Not what you'd expect . . .

November 22, 2011 Full Review | Comment (1)

James O'Ehley

Sci-Fi Movie Page

No amount of gee-whiz techno-wizardry or nifty pop-cultural juxtapositions can save Cowboys & Aliens from two terrible truths: it has a dud script, and a dud director.

October 26, 2011 Full Review | Comment (1)

Clem Bastow

The Vine

full review at Movies for the Masses

September 29, 2011 Full Review | Comments (2)

Joseph Proimakis

Movies for the Masses

we get a standard story, some decent setpieces and only a few funny lines...Take the ride, but don't blame us if you end up saddle sore.

September 16, 2011 Full Review

James White

SFX Magazine

Uma diversão eficiente que, sim, poderia ter explorado sua ótima premissa com mais cuidado, mas que ao menos não a desperdiçou com "homenagens" tolas e auto referenciais.

September 9, 2011 Full Review | Comment (1)

Pablo Villaca

Cinema em Cena

The two marquee stars don't interact much, the "big" action pieces are fairly ho-hum, and the movie just cowpokes along when it seems like it should be having a lot more galloping fun.

September 8, 2011 Full Review

Neil Pond

American Profile

As always, the men's transformations -- from selfish, ignorant individuals into something like a community -- are helped along by their union against a common enemy.

September 8, 2011 Full Review | Comment (1)

Cynthia Fuchs

PopMatters

I don't think too many people are going to wander into the theater expecting The Tree of Life. The film delivers exactly what it promises.

September 2, 2011 Full Review

Kenneth R. Morefield

Christianity Today

So in much the same way that 'Transformers' is essentially a robot war with a few humans stumbling around trying to get laid; this film should really have been called 'Alien Bracelet Vs. Aliens... With Some Cowboys Falling Off Their Horses'.

September 2, 2011 Full Review | Comments (3)

Nick Deigman

Fan The Fire

I'm now convinced that the non-cast related quality of the first Iron Man happened entirely by accident.

August 28, 2011 Full Review

Rob Humanick

Projection Booth

• 1. Jake Lonergan: I'm a wanted man.
  2. Colonel Dolarhyde: I could have sworn I saw Jake Lonergan die in that cave.
  3. Sheriff John Taggart: Damn shame. I was hoping to hang him myself.
  4. Jake Lonergan: Jake chuckles and rides off into the sunset.
  – Submitted by Stephan V (6 months ago)
• 1. Meacham: [to Doc - learning to shoot] Don't yank on it - it's not your pecker.
  – Submitted by Brien M (17 months ago)
• 1. Meacham: Not bad for a country preacher.
  – Submitted by Trypp B (18 months ago)
• 1. Ella: I told you not to look in the light.
  2. Jake Lonergan: Yeah. Right.
  – Submitted by Lucas M (22 months ago)
• 1. Ella: If it's all the same, I would like to ride along too.
  2. Meacham: Yes, ma'am. We've got a kid, a dog, why not a woman?
  – Submitted by Lucas M (22 months ago)
• 1. Jake Lonergan: Demons took your gold. When you get to Hell, you can ask for it back.
  – Submitted by Moeslim A (22 months ago)

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