Cowboys & Aliens
Metascore
50 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 41 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 41
  2. Mixed: 20 out of 41
  3. Negative: 5 out of 41
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  1. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Rick Groen
    Jul 28, 2011
    38
    Over on the aliens side, it's hard to make out faces, but there's no doubt about their place of origin: These slimy, growling, bug-eyed and distinctly non-scary things are straight from central casting.
  2. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kenneth Turan
    Jul 28, 2011
    30
    A leaden mash-up of western and science-fiction elements that ends up noisy, grotesque and unappealing.
  3. Wall Street Journal
    Reviewed by: Joe Morgenstern
    Jul 28, 2011
    30
    Cowboys versus aliens is a concept that may make you smile in anticipation, but wipe that smile off your face before buying your ticket.
  4. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Rene Rodriguez
    Jul 29, 2011
    25
    Every summer movie season usually has at least one spectacular, disastrous flame-out, and although the dog days of August still loom, I doubt there will come a big-budget blockbuster worse than Cowboys and Aliens.
  5. Slant Magazine
    Reviewed by: Nick Schager
    Jul 26, 2011
    25
    Brandishing a literal-minded title as laughable as the rest of its action, Cowboys & Aliens mashes up genres with a staunch dedication to getting everything wrong, making sure that each scene is more inane than the one that preceded it.

User Reviews

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User Score
6.0 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 332 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 80 out of 132
  2. Mixed: 32 out of 132
  3. Negative: 20 out of 132
  1. grandpajoe6191
    6
    Yes, the movie's plot is PREPOSTEROUS with a f*cking huge "P". The mix of SF and the west was a impossible task for Jon Favreau (since he makes great movies that have shallow depth like Iron man). However surprisingly he succeeds in presenting a great movie thanks to the dark atmosphere with Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford's cool performances. Though I felt the 'Western" part of the movie was significantly stronger than the "SF" and that the director could have just focused on the Western part and make the movie "Cowboys" without the "aliens".… Full Review »
  2. PollosHermanos
    2
    Jesus. This movie is so overwhelmingly mediocre. C&A is a prime example of Hollywood cashing in on overly bland and unoriginal movies that have so much hype built up on them (and a ridiculously unnecessary budget). Jon Favreau is an extremely overrated director with no originality whatsoever. Boring cinematography. Boring script. Boring editing. Seen-that-before action sequences. And questionable casting (Olivia Wilde with her im-trying-too-hard-to-be-serious expressions and dialogue, and Daniel Craig, the Englishman who you can easily tell is trying oh so hard to cover up his accent). The story is FULL of action movie cliches that make the following scenes hugely predictable. The Aliens: not scary, that **** has been done before, and MUCH better. Favreau tries to make the movie out to be epic and dramatic, but it sadly ends up being another run-of-the-mill ****ty summer action movie. But, I'm sure this movie will gross millions and millions of dollars and the "public" will say that it's a "great movie, so entertaining and funny!" and blah blah blah. The dialogue is boring as hell and some scenes are so over-acted that it almost feels as if they are making a parody of themselves. If you have any sense of the many possible quality that defines a movie as "good", stay away from this one. If you want to sit for two hours and have your intelligence insulted with unoriginality and bland mediocrity, go see it. I was anxiously waiting for this movie to come to its predictable, dumb ending, so I could GTFO out the theater.
    I know that this movie was intended to be just an entertaining summer blockbuster, but jesus, actually make it worth my time and bring SOMETHING new to the table. This movie had virtually nothing to offer, which ultimately made it completely unentertaining and pointless.    … Full Review »
  3. drm
    8
    When I read Roger Ebert's review of this, it went something like this, "Why couldn't this have just been a western?" At the time, I thought that was kind of a harsh review, since I know of his childhood bias toward western cinema. He's right though. This totally could have stood on it's own without science fiction assistance. Daniel Craig is so f***ing cool in this movie. Harrison Ford is too. It's almost like too many dope actors got trapped in 'ordinary film syndrome'. Please don't misunderstand, I liked this movie, and I had fun watching it. I think people beat up Olivia Wilde too hard. She is very beautiful, but this role didn't really exploit her talents correctly. I could go on and on about the ways modern film makes female leads ineffective, compared to their 20th century counterparts, but that's a whole other thing. Bottom line, this was fun. Go see it. :]… Full Review »
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