Cowboys and Aliens is full of unlikely combinations. The film, set in a fictional 1870s Arizona town that's abruptly invaded by aliens, merges traditional western and sci-fi genres. Its star-pairing of Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig brings together echoes of their most iconic roles, Indiana Jones and James Bond respectively. With the movie's big budget, popular graphic novel source material, and buzzed-about director (Iron Man's Jon Favreau), are cowboys and aliens summer’s most satisfyingly unlikely pair? (Watch a trailer for the movie.)
It's a "thrilling mashup of genres": Cowboys and Aliens' "kooky arrangement" of two classic genres — and their cliches — really works, says Jon Niccum at The Kansas City Star. The setup so authentically honors classic western films that the audience is happily caught off guard when the aliens arrive. "They're horrifying," but Cowboys and Aliens is "one of the true crowd-pleasers of the summer."
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