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Judging from the opening credits, it would seem (in my state of ignorance) that this movie was based on a (popular?) video game – and if that is indeed the case, it is easily one of the best "video screen to silver screen" adaptations ever to come down the pike in a long time, and that's a "good" thing. The movie itself, unfortunately, leaves quite a bit to be desired... and that's not such a good thing.

For a certainty, it is not exactly a "terrible" movie, in fact, far from it. But when you take what is unquestionably an intriguing & compelling concept and spin a story with (1) a thread-bare plot, (2) a cast of characters without the slightest modicum of any real depth, who inspire little if any sympathy or concern as to what happens to them, and (3) almost zero plausibility, it becomes one of those movies you can only sit thorough about once and lament the career decisions by such acting powerhouses as Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford.

In a nutshell, the "Psychlos" have sent out an advance scouting party some millennium or so in advance of their full-scale invasion and inevitable showdown with Barry Pepper, ever in search of that rarest of precious metals in the universe, and it would seem that our lonely humble planet is a veritable gold mine – both literally as well as figuratively. Of course none of the townsfolk of a small dusty frontier town seem to have any real clue about the wealth they possess seemingly underfoot, and even less knowledge concerning the foreign presence on their soil.

It should come as no surprise that the elusive nocturnally active "Visitors"– who have been snatching up random citizens and keeping them in cold storage... until they periodically decide to strap a select few down onto the ubiquitously cliché extraterrestrial operating table to "discover our weaknesses" –are the catalyst in forging an interdependency and collaboration between the lowly cowardly & pathetic townsfolk and the stonehearted, indifferent & ultra-selfish businessman (Ford) who almost single-handedly supplies the town its economic lifeblood. The lynchpin helping to forge & sustain this unlikely and uneasy alliance is an amnesiac (Craig) with a decidedly "questionable" past, unbeknownst to himself, of course.

Naturally, it's "happy endings" all the way around – much too "happy," considering what was presented to us at the initial set-up going into the story, so the "feel-good" wrap-up at the end feels too much like a disappointing letdown. And perhaps it's just me, but for some reason Daniel Craig does not come across convincingly as a "Wild West" cowpoke type.

All in all, you could easily do a lot worse in your viewing choices, but a movie with this fascinating concept could have also been done in a considerably better manner than what we were ultimately presented with. The biggest letdown of this movie is that for what it is it would've been a safer and smarter bet to use "lesser-name" talent to carry the story, which may have possibly aided this movie in gaining a somewhat minor "cult" status... but as it stands now, based on what we were actually presented with, I'd safely say that all bets for that outcome are quite "off."

link directly to this review at https://www.hollywoodbitchslap.com/review.php?movie=20350&reviewer=427
originally posted: 08/17/11 07:09:10
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