After the soul-crushing awfulness of the trailer for Green Lantern, it's nice to know that at least one summer movie in 2011 won't be a total disappointment. The trailer for Cowboys & Aliens -- which will get some serious placement in front of Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, Part I this weekend -- has premiered online and it's nowhere near as silly as the title might have you believe. In fact, it looks pretty harrowing. Well, for a movie about cowboys fighting aliens.
Daniel Craig (and his butt) stars as Jake Lonergan, an outlaw who wakes up in the middle of nowhere with some sort of alien bracelet on his wrist and no recollection of his past. Yikes! After disposing of some generic western baddies, he heads to the nearest town to reunite with the girl he doesn't remember (Olivia Wilde) and the sheriff who wants him captured (Harrison Ford). Things look bleak for our hero until the alien bracelet lights up and aliens attack. Cue explosions, some other first-act shenanigans and plenty of concerned stares.
You know what? This thing looks fantastic. Everything from the mood to the mystery to the way it doesn't actually reveal the aliens feels just right. Jon Favreau, you're forgiven for Iron Man 2. And Zathura.
VERDICT: Yee-haw! (Sold.)