Dear Jon Favreau, I'm Sorry

Since 2005 Jon Favreau has had a pretty good record of films as a director (he's been fairly hit or miss when acting). Even Zathura, which not everyone loved, often comparing it to a poor-man's version of the highly successful Jumanji, was pretty fun. And then anyone who watches movies or television know about the Iron Man movies, which are awesome. But when I saw that he was directing the ridiculous-sounding Cowboys & Aliens I felt like he was banking on his recent success to do something outrageous that most people wouldn't fund with a less promotable director. I mean seriously, it's called Cowboys. . . & ALIENS! How could that possibly make a good movie? Upon first seeing a preview I decided to put that in the same category as Twilight (i.e. movies I won't see even if it means gouging out my eyes to make that happen). Unfortunately, my dad really wanted to see it and he promised to buy me an ICEE and popcorn. I'm poor and that's all it took; yes, I'm a weak, weak person, but you would have done the same in my position.


Reasons, in addition to the ridiculous premise, that I didn't want to see the movie:

• I'm not male, therefore Olivia Wilde held no special draw for me.
• I hate Daniel Craig.
• I like Han Solo aka Indiana Jones aka (if you must) Harrison Ford, but he hasn't been doing so well with role selection so far.
• Seriously, Cowboys & Aliens? Seriously?!

Reasons I'm sorry to Jon Favreau:

• He finally found a role Daniel Craig is good and believable as.
• He give Harrison Ford a role that fit him well, but wasn't like any role he's done recently.
• Olivia Wilde was not just eye candy in this movie, but her character was actually the driving force behind the movie and she proved she can play more than a hot doctor. 
• The creature and set designs were not over-the-top, but highly realistic. Even the alien ships, which reminded me of Stargate: Atlantis, were dirty and blended into the landscape well. 
• It was really entertaining.

While Favreau can't get all the credit, since the film was merely an adaptation of a highly successful graphic novel, he does get mad props for taking something that could have been turned into a caricature on the screen, and thus a mockery of the original story, and turning it into a great action film that is visually unique (i.e. not like all other alien films that are set on Earth). Clearly Favreau has proved that he's an intelligent director who understands what makes a good movie. This most likely comes from his being an actor first and a director second; this means that he is what is known as an actor's director, which means he knows how to work with the actors in a cooperative manner in order to get the best performance from everyone on the team. To put it another way, this is the man that can pretty much be credited with turning Robert Downey, Jr. into  movie star again. He knows what he's doing, and I apologize to him for my months and months of ridiculing and insulting his film. I was wrong and, while I hate to admit it, I'm a big enough person to do it.

Don't you let me down now Favreau.

4 stars out of 5