Jon Favreau is once again the King of Comic-Con. In a lackluster year where fans have sat through panels for films that have nothing to do with comic books (and some little to do with anything interesting), the Iron Man director hit the stage like an adrenaline needle to a crowd already buzzing to see the Marvel panel later in the evening.
It’s been a hectic day of overcrowding, a trailer presentation that brought on the boos, and a fight that broke out and resulted in police action. After the panel for Paul brought everyone back to life, Favreau was joined on stage by Daniel Craig…then Olivia Wilde…then Sam Rockwell…and then, Harrison “Throw Me the Idol” Ford.
So, perhaps it was the five minute standing ovation that got the crowd in the giving mood, but the footage for the definitely 2D Cowboys vs Aliens was spectacular. Since it could be considered a bit spoilery, hit the jump.
After Favreau promised a straight-forward, John Ford-esque Western that added the feel of the classic sci-fi he grew up with, he delivered fully on that promise.
The first scene shows Craig as the lonesome stranger coming into a seemingly empty town to wash up and check a gun shot wound. A shotgun is shoved into the back of his head courtesy of Clancy Brown and some gruff, bearded dialog commences.
In the second, we find Craig’s character in jail being taunted by fellow prisoner Paul Dano who wakes him up by spitting on him. This results in a sudden meeting between Dano’s face and the bars of the jail.
The two prisoners are being loaded into a horse-drawn paddy wagon when Harrison Ford’s character, Dano’s character’s father, rides in with a posse and demands his son and the stranger. The moments are tense. It’s a time for grown men with gun holsters to drawl out their disagreements. Then, everything goes quiet and the town looks to the sky. Three…bright…lights like something out of Close Encounters (except the townsfolk don’t have a giant Casio keyboard) float just overhead.
That’s when the explosions starts and all hell breaks loose.
The crew has been shooting for only a month, but Favreau demanded something big to bring to the Con. He definitely gave everyone a much needed jolt of excitement because the footage looks polished, reverant to the genre, and just damned wonderful.
The director also confirmed that, despite testing for it, they were not going to shoot the film in 3D because Favreau didn’t want to shoot digitally.
Thanks, Favreau.
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