Craig plays lone gunslinger Jake Lonergan, a dangerous, solitary man afflicted with amnesia and walking through New Mexico territory in the years following the Civil War with alien technology fastened to his wrist. In a remote western town called Absolution, Lonergan comes into conflict with the law and Colonel Dolerhyde (Harrison Ford), an embittered cattle tycoon who's seen one war too many. Once members of Absolution's population are kidnapped in a brutal raid by alien mauraders, Lonergan and Dolerhyde lead a rag tag posse on a quest to redeem their lost loved ones. The film climaxes in a pitched battle between the cowboys, their native american allies and the dreaded alien scourge; while Craig, and his love interest Olivia Wilde (Ella Swenson), creep through the depths of the aliens ship trying to rescue the captured townsfolk.
Not even A-list talent can rescue this film from mediocrity. The story flows from cliche to stereotype to cliche with only the luscious visuals and dramatic action sequences keeping the audience interested. The sci fi film lovers out there might find some of the effects interesting, but there's nothing here we haven't seen before. Cowboys and Aliens takes an inspired concept and beyond the most basic promise of lots of guns, explosions and special effects fails to deliver to the audience a movie that is more than the sum of its parts - and it could have been
