Go See Hanna Instead of Cowboys & Aliens this Weekend
Cowboys and Aliens is not a terrible movie. It's a mix of western and SF cliches that barely holds together thanks to the strong character leads of Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford. Lots of old fart testosterone flowing around to smooth out the jarring theme changes and scenes that seem to lifted completely from old Clint Eastwood films. It also has the great Sam Rockwell, but his weak character is completely overshadowed by the leads.
My first clue that that this was going to be pretty bland, middle-of-the-road fare happened before the credits ended. So many writers! This script has been massaged to death, wringing out almost all originality or real story.
Hanna on the other hand was awesome! A quirky, tight, euro-thriller with a fantastic lead actress who makes you believe in the premise. The move was brutal in places but it kept me fascinated all the way to the end. It even has a small SF component that left me more satisfied than all of the gooey aliens in the former movie. Lastly, it's a great recommendation for home schooling.
If you see one movie this weekend, make it Hanna.
My first clue that that this was going to be pretty bland, middle-of-the-road fare happened before the credits ended. So many writers! This script has been massaged to death, wringing out almost all originality or real story.
Hanna on the other hand was awesome! A quirky, tight, euro-thriller with a fantastic lead actress who makes you believe in the premise. The move was brutal in places but it kept me fascinated all the way to the end. It even has a small SF component that left me more satisfied than all of the gooey aliens in the former movie. Lastly, it's a great recommendation for home schooling.
If you see one movie this weekend, make it Hanna.
12 Comments
dagComment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)
I think Hanna has been out in other countries for quite a while - but it's still newish here in Oz.
dystopianfuturetodayCowboys and Aliens sucked and sucked bad. Don't waste your money. We are in a small town at the moment that doesn't offer foreign films, so Hanna will have to wait, but we were pleasantly surprised yesterday by Crazy. Stupid. Love. Decent flick that starts off formulaic (but still funny) and then evolves into something pretty good. Recommended.
At $6 a ticket out here in MT, I've seen 6 movies in as many weeks. Back in Cali, where tickets are twice as much or more, I saw 1 movie in 7 months.
quantumushroomHanna! Miley Cyrus was LETHAL!
mintbbbI really wanted to go see Hanna in the theaters. In addiction to a great cast and trailer, parts of it were filmed in Finland (yay!) I ended up waiting a bit too long and missed the theatrical run. So I am now just waiting for it to be out of DVD so I can put it on top the my NetFlix queue
kymbosThe first hint I got that Cowboys and Aliens would be a disappointment was Harrison Ford.
I'm such a bitch. But it's true.
Now Craig, get back to being the best Bond in decades.
dagComment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)
For some reason - My memory of this comment had you recommending "Friends With Benefits" and I was about to give you all kinds of shit for what a terrible movie it was, as I just saw it. Thwarted. I hate his washboard abs with every fiber of my being.>> ^dystopianfuturetoday:
Cowboys and Aliens sucked and sucked bad. Don't waste your money. We are in a small town at the moment that doesn't offer foreign films, so Hanna will have to wait, but we were pleasantly surprised yesterday by Crazy. Stupid. Love. Decent flick that starts off formulaic (but still funny) and then evolves into something pretty good. Recommended.
At $6 a ticket out here in MT, I've seen 6 movies in as many weeks. Back in Cali, where tickets are twice as much or more, I saw 1 movie in 7 months.
marinaraLOL "old fart testosterone"
blankfistI saw Hanna a while back. It's really well done. And the tone is exceptionally great for this kind of story. It's really good. Or at least the first two acts are really good. By the 3rd act I felt like the stakes were lowered too much. In the very last big scene I never felt the main character was threatened.
SPOILER ALERT
Do NOT read further if you don't want the ending ruined.
@dag, how'd you feel about the ending? Up to that point we've seen what Hanna is capable of: fighting troves of baddies with guns and kicking ass all the way. I mean, she's the perfect assassin, right? Then by the end it's just her versus Cate Blanchett's character. Sure, Cate is armed with a gun, but she's so out matched it's a deflation from the action-packed ride we were just on.
dagComment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)
** Spoilers Continue **
I didn't have a problem with the ending. It was a bit magical. She was in the fairytale house and the witch came to get her. Although Hanna was bad ass, she was completely freaked out psychologically by confronting the witch, so not functioning well. I thought it was a pretty good ending actually. Cate played evil really well in this one.
>> ^blankfist:
I saw Hanna a while back. It's really well done. And the tone is exceptionally great for this kind of story. It's really good. Or at least the first two acts are really good. By the 3rd act I felt like the stakes were lowered too much. In the very last big scene I never felt the main character was threatened.
SPOILER ALERT
Do NOT read further if you don't want the ending ruined.
@dag, how'd you feel about the ending? Up to that point we've seen what Hanna is capable of: fighting troves of baddies with guns and kicking ass all the way. I mean, she's the perfect assassin, right? Then by the end it's just her versus Cate Blanchett's character. Sure, Cate is armed with a gun, but she's so out matched it's a deflation from the action-packed ride we were just on.
blankfistspoilers...
@dag, but I don't think her emotional and psychological obstacles in the 3rd Act really translated into something tangible enough that she couldn't make quick work of Cate. I think the first time she was taken to that big government facility near the beginning of the movie was much more terrifying. For her and us as the audience. The fear was palpable, the situation was dire, and ultimately the stakes were really high. Then by the end it was just her and Cate in a weird closed amusement park. I get all the fairy tale visuals, and they're a wonderful touch, but Cate was not the biggest threat in the movie. At least not by herself.
Remember that scene where we first see Cate with a gun? She's inept. Not a threat without her team. And in the end, the entire climax is her by herself without her team. At any time Hanna could've snapped her neck. To me, once they got to that old man's home, the movie became sprawling, somewhat unfocused and then it changed its tone so it could shoehorn in a Grimm ending.
It's still a great movie, just not as great as it could've been. IMHO.
Farhad2000Come on of course Cowboys and Aliens was going to terrible. They took a funny story and tried to make a serious movie out of it and that's why it fails on so many fronts. Plus Ford is phoning in everything now just like Pacino and De Niro.
Hanna was good but disappointing mostly of what Blankfist mentioned already. She takes out a whole base and suddenly shes scared of 3 guys and 1 woman in the finale? Ninja please.
Hanna with its fairytale bullshit was really weak as well. I was hoping it would have more of a Bourne Identity feel about it. Am not 5 give me complex storylines not rooted in fairytale bullshit. By the 3rd act all I wanted to do is fucking leave because the story started to fall apart and retcon everything they built up in act 1 and 2. Still good but it's not Leon or Nikita.
Overall this whole summer has been shit for movies.
deathcow> Lots of old fart testosterone flowing around to smooth out the jarring theme changes
WTF DUDE I'M AS OLD AS THAT CRAIG GUY
Did you see the news where having kids crushes your testosterone levels? The more you parent, the worse!
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