Cowboys & Aliens

Movie review by Sandie Angulo Chen, Common Sense Media
Cowboys & Aliens Poster Image

Common Sense says

age 13+

Cool but predictable sci-fi Western has lots of violence.

PG-13 2011 118 minutes
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Parents say

age 14+

Based on 24 reviews

Kids say

age 12+

Based on 56 reviews

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A Lot or a Little?

The parents' guide to what's in this movie.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that this Western/sci-fi hybrid will definitely appeal to boys and fans of the two stars -- the new Bond (Daniel Craig) and the former Indy (Harrison Ford) -- but there are some violent scenes that may be too intense for tweens. Although it's light on romance -- just a couple of kisses and a few references to a prostitute -- the movie is heavy with explosive action (shootings, stabbings, and gruesome aliens) and has a high body count. Language includes words like "s--t" and "damn," and alcohol consumption is fairly high, considering that the cowboys spend most of their downtime drinking in a saloon. Despite a generally positive message about people banding together to fight a common enemy, the movie's violence can be overwhelming.

Community Reviews

paulgibbons
paulgibbons Adult
November 10, 2011
age 10+

The least prudish parent here says 'avoid this one for violence'

There is hardly a PG-13 movie to which I would not take my six year old, and a few select R ones have crept in also (like the Terminator.) I find the comments here about cleavage, kissing, swearing, and drinking absurdly prudish. And generally, my minimum age is 5 or 6 years younger than the average. However, I think this is utterly too violent and scary. The creatures are horrible (great from an effects point of view), they torture humans, they are quick and viscious. There is a ton of gore, lost limps, and children's well being is threatened during the film (they get abducted by these horrible creatures). So, from someone bemused by much of the discussion here, I would say this is one to avoid.

This title has:

Great role models
Too much violence
1 person found this helpful.
CSMContentDefault
CSMContentDefault Adult
November 22, 2018
age 12+

The butt review

This movie has got some rude language and a lot of violence. This movie is more for teens and not for little kids for the PG-13 rating. But really the only bad thing about this movie is the action. The aliens ain't scary at all.
See all 24 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Based on Scott Mitchell Rosenberg's graphic novel, COWBOYS & ALIENS opens with an unnamed man (Daniel Craig) sitting in the desert with a mysterious bracelet cuffed to his wrist. After felling three men who think he's good for bounty, the lone cowboy appears in a sleepy 19th-century Arizona town, where he encounters a kind preacher (Clancy Brown) and enrages Percy (Paul Dano), a drunken bully who's the son of local cattleman Col. Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford). When the local sheriff (Keith Carradine) discovers that Craig is actually Jake Lonergan, a wanted criminal, he arrests him. Then aliens attack the town and kidnap many residents -- including Percy, the sheriff, and the saloon owner's wife. To stop the invasion, Jake teams up with Dolarhyde; his Native American deputy, Nat (Adam Beach); the sheriff's grandson, Emmett (Noah Ringer); Doc (Sam Rockwell), the barman; and Ella (Olivia Wilde), a beautiful, gun-toting woman who knows more about the aliens than anyone else.

Is It Any Good?

Craig buzzes with a simmering intensity that can turn into a swashbuckling boil at any moment. With his sharp features and broad shoulders, he transforms from brooding loner into a relentless warrior every single time he's threatened -- from the opening scene to the last alien he dispatches. But as promising as the movie starts -- with Craig's amnesiac, wounded gunslinger stealing clothes (including tight-fitting leather chaps) off his rivals and galloping into town -- the middle is a muddle of alien carnage and incomplete plot development that leaves you dissatisfied no matter how exciting it is to watch Craig and Ford share the screen.

Ford, no longer dashing and young, is now the perfect curmudgeon; his Dolarhyde is a meanie with a soft spot for his ne'er-do-well son. Beach is earnest as Ford's underappreciated charge-turned-employee, but the Native American subplot in the second half feels a bit Dances with Wolves without any heart. Wilde is appropriately gorgeous as the enigmatic Ella, but her romance with Jake is far too predictable. If director Jon Favreau had paid as much attention to the story as he did the fighting sequences, Cowboys & Aliens could have been a milestone instead of just another passably cool summer movie.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the merging of the two genres. Which aspect worked better -- the Western or the sci-fi parts?

  • How was the violence handled in the movie? Was there too much, or was it necessary to the story?

  • When you see actors in a movie, do you think about the other parts they've played in the past? How does that affect the way you react to them and their actions?

Movie Details

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