The Magnificent Seven - movie review
The Magnificent Seven
Plot: Seven gun men in the old west gradually come together to help a poor village against savage thieves.
Cast: Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke
Director: Antoine Fuqua
Rating: 12A (moderate violence)
Runtime: 2hrs 13 mins
Release Date: Friday 23rd September 2016
YEEHAW!! HOWDY PARTNER!! It's time for another rootin' tootin' time at the Westerns!! Ok, enough of that. The Magnificent Seven is the updated remake of The Magnificent Seven from 1960 which was itself a remake from the critically acclaimed Seven Samurai by Akira Kurosawa. This 2016 adaptation was a remake that people were actually excited for, probably because whilst the 1960 film is well liked, it isn't considered a staple in cinematic history. Plus, the story of a band of misfits coming together to fight evil is the epitome of the oldest story in the book. It makes two star-crossed lovers look inventive at this point. But is The Magnificent Seven... magnificent?
A huge and talented cast does not even begin to explain the amount of phenomenal actors that star in this movie. As the leader of this gang is the one and only, Denzel Washington. It has to be pretty impressive to get to a point in your career when you can just be called by your first name (no stage name) and everyone knows who you're talking about. If you walk up to someone and say 'Did you see Michael in that film? He was incredible!' your response will be 'Michael Who?'. You swap 'Michael' out for Denzel and now you're making sense. Anyway, as per usual, Denzel just nails it. This is a role that he's having such a fun time with before he gets ready to win the Oscar for Fences (an upcoming film of his). Considering this is his third team up with director Fuqua, their rapport is clear to see on screen and whilst having not seen Training Day, this is their best work together yet. His character of Sam Chisholm is always calm and suave even if he is in the middle of a gunfight. The same goes for Chris Pratt who this time, plays Chris Pratt in a cowboy hat joining the roles such as Chris Pratt in space (Guardians Of The Galaxy) and Chris Pratt with dinosaurs (Jurassic World). Whilst that may sounds harsh, the way Pratt pulls it off is fantastic and in this star studded cast he is well and truly the funniest, most endearing, charismatic and all around badass of the seven. Pratt as Faraday just owns every minute he's on screen. Whether it be a quick-draw or quick-mouth, Faraday is the cowboy you want to be friends with but never annoy because he'll just shoot you in the face. So with Faraday now recruited, Denzel and him form the dynamic duo. However, after meeting Goodnight Robicheaux (Ethan Hawke having the most perplexing name ever) and his knife-wielding compadre, Billy Rocks (Byung-Hun Lee), the seven is now taking shape. Fans of Training Day are going to be happy to see Denzel and Hawke share the screen again with Fuqua behind the camera. Hawke and Denzel might not share a large proportion of scenes together when it's just the two of them but the chemistry is present and it's dynamite. Goodnight is a bit of a different character than the advertisement presents because his backstory reveals a fair deal about him. In all honesty, it didn't work straight away. It was unexpected and the placement of this revelation seemed inappropriate. As the film progressed, the backstory developed more and it ended up being better and serviceable to the film but was still way too jarring when introduced. Hawke did a fine job with it and he seemed to bond the most with the other characters. Those three are the main standouts and the four others serve as the supporting bunch.
As mentioned, Byung-Hun Lee is the accomplice who has mastered the art of knife throwing so when the guns are no longer of use, he's the best option for close quarter combat. Lee isn't the most talkative of characters but when you've been Storm Shadow in the G. I. Joe series and a Terminator in Terminator Genisys (we don't talk about that), you're hired for the ability to pull off these fight scenes. Two that really flew under the radar were Manuel Garcia-Rulfo and Martin Sensmeier. The two of them are perfectly fine in terms of their performances but they aren't that memorable when leaving the film. Each character has a key significant moment but these two lacked that speciality. Wrapping up the Magnificent Seven is Vincent D'Onofrio as Jack Horne otherwise known as the lovechild from an orgy between Forrest Gump, a Polar Bear and a helium balloon. It's quite an interesting performance let me tell you. Horne is very loveable even though he could snap you like a twig but D'Onofrio carries it very well even if he has the strangest voice for Horne. Obviously, these seven need to team up to stop someone and their adversary is Peter Sarsgaard. If there's one thing that he can really perfect, it's a slimy and unlikeable villain so Peter as Bogue is someone who can crawl under your skin. He isn't in it as much as it may seem but when he is, Sarsgaard is very good. He could have gone a little bit further in the villainy at the end but due to certain reveals and twists, it makes sense for him to act the way he does.
FACT: Chris Pratt's horse in the film, is the same horse that starred in Steven Spielberg's 'War Horse'.
The Equalizer. Star-Lord. A sharpshooter. Kingpin. Storm Shadow. A Mexican gunslinger and an actual Native American. It's an impressive lineup but similar to the introduction, these are characters that we've seen lots of times in a film that we have seen lots of times. The complaint of an unoriginal storyline is pretty tough to use here considering that it was a remake and you can only take the premise so far but in terms of how the plot progressed and the act structure, The Magnificent Seven is very predictable. Fuqua has certainly put his own spin on things and it's updated to suit modern day Hollywood needs but at the very heart of The Magnificent Seven is an overdone and generic story that has appeared in films ranging from this year's Suicide Squad to A Bug's Life. It is also quite a lengthy film. With a runtime of just under two and a quarter hours, there are moments in The Magnificent Seven when it can't be all Western shootouts or gung-ho action so for the entire first act and large portion of the second act, this movie is very slow on the uptake. The scenes in which the group are bonding over drinks are enjoyable enough and add some interesting character development but after a while, it got repetitive as we were just wanting some sort of action to kick it back into gear. Thankfully, when the film does wake up and the fighting begins, it is absolutely worth it. There's a small shootout in the second act where we get a taste of what is to come but it's the finale that everyone will remember. This may seem like a strong statement to make but the last twenty minutes of 2016's Magnificent Seven is easily one of the greatest Western fight scenes ever put to film. It is action packed from the first bullet fired to the last and it's so much fun. For a disappointing summer this year, The Magnificent Seven feels like a summer movie but released in September instead. However, a problem which this film kept cropping across is how the seven were recruited. Some like Faraday and Goodnight felt earned and made sense but Red Harvest (Sensmeier) and Vasquez (Garcia-Rulfo) joined almost instantaneously with no setup. It was incredibly bewildering and off-putting when they're willing to almost sign their lives away based on a whim from people they've just met. This was a good film but that was just lazy storytelling.
It certainly is great fun but I'd be hesitant to say that it's magnificent. The seven themselves are very enjoyable to watch and when the action begins, it's awesome. But the film building up to those moments is formulaic (not really it's fault) and slightly uneventful. That being said; seeing Denzel hang off the side of a horse running at full gallop whilst blasting bad guys in the face is always going to be a positive.
My Verdict: 7/10
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