The wild west wasn’t a land of fairy tales; corrupt industrialists, rampant racism and lawless murder all plagued the setting.
“The Magnificent Seven” is a remake of the 60s film of the same name, which in turn was a remake of the 1956 Japanese movie “Seven Samurai.” When compared to any of the past masterpieces that older generations will get nostalgic over, it’s suffice to say that there isn’t anything worthy to remember in this shoot-up of a remake.
But, that doesn’t mean that this modern take of the film is terrible compared to the classics — far from it. For all of its silly little quips, well-choreographed fights and a straightforward story, the film is magnificent for nothing but a popcorn snack on a dull afternoon.
Like the previous two films, an old Western town is threatened by a seemingly lawless individual who values personal gain more than innocent lives. But, rather than a group of hungry bandits wanting to steal some crops, it instead uses a more typical western villain: Bartholomew Bogue (Peter Sarsgaard) who seeks to take over the land and make a profit through mining.
Recent widower Emma Cullen (Haley Bennet) must take matters into her own hands by hiring famed bounty hunter Sam Chisolm (Denzel Washington) to take back the town. To prepare against Bogue’s army of hired guns, director Antoine Fuqua hired a cast of A-listers and some unknown actors for his own version of a “Magnificent Seven.”
Chris Pratt is gambling man and quip machine Josh Faraday. Ethan Hawke plays weirdly-named sharpshooter Goodnight Robicheux. His budding, knives-wielding partner goes by Billy Rocks (Byung-hun Lee) — most likely not his given name. Vincent D’Onofrio is high-pitched mountain man Jack Horne, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo is the happy-go-lucky criminal Vasquez and Martin Sensmiere plays a relatively quiet, but all around badass, Native American Red Harvest.
Because of some of the mainstream stars within the group, we get to see more character development and screen-time dedicated to them while Billy Rocks, Red Harvest and Vasquez are there for the humorous remarks and the action scenes.
Pratt’s performance as Faraday was a let down. His motivation wasn’t clearly defined, other than wanting his horse back — which felt silly in its own right. Most of the chuckle-worthy scenes derive from Pratt’s usual quick responses, which feels like he was typecasted to be the charasmatic smartass.
We also don’t see the extent of Billy Rocks’ and Red Harvest’s acting talents, whereby they stay nearly silent as compared to their other companions. They do, however, provide a nice change of pace when they use nearly-primitive weapons like knives and arrows when everyone else is using guns.
Director Antoine Fuqua rides again with Washington and Hawke from “Training Day” to reimagine the movie as a bustling action film that tests the extent of the PG-13 rating. By that, the gratuitous violence reaches its limit. While there is no distinct blood spurt whenever someone is shot, there are noticeable bullet holes in the gunshot victims, and Billy Rocks provides a good amount of stabbing sprees.
The basic plot, if compared to the originals, lacks any sort of substance, as most of the development was primarily upon building up to the battle before Bartholomew’s retaliation. Once the climactic battle begins, it goes on for 10 to 20 minutes with the typical “good guys are losing and now they’re winning back” trope, except it’s more padded out.
The action scenes are indefinitely intense, the usage of practical effects was engaging, and the set-pieces get much larger than the original. “The Magnificent Seven” is another Hollywood-remake that doesn’t lasso onto what made the original so great, but at least you may have something entertaining to watch while eating a good bucket of popcorn.
The wild west wasn’t a land of fairy tales; corrupt industrialists, rampant racism and lawless murder all plagued the setting.
“The Magnificent Seven” is a remake of the 60s film of the same name, which in turn was a remake of the 1956 Japanese movie “Seven Samurai.” When compared to any of the past masterpieces that older generations will get nostalgic over, it’s suffice to say that there isn’t anything worthy to remember in this shoot-up of a remake.
But, that doesn’t mean that this modern take of the film is terrible compared to the classics — far from it. For all of its silly little quips, well-choreographed fights and a straightforward story, the film is magnificent for nothing but a popcorn snack on a dull afternoon.
Like the previous two films, an old Western town is threatened by a seemingly lawless individual who values personal gain more than innocent lives. But, rather than a group of hungry bandits wanting to steal some crops, it instead uses a more typical western villain: Bartholomew Bogue (Peter Sarsgaard) who seeks to take over the land and make a profit through mining.
Recent widower Emma Cullen (Haley Bennet) must take matters into her own hands by hiring famed bounty hunter Sam Chisolm (Denzel Washington) to take back the town. To prepare against Bogue’s army of hired guns, director Antoine Fuqua hired a cast of A-listers and some unknown actors for his own version of a “Magnificent Seven.”
Chris Pratt is gambling man and quip machine Josh Faraday. Ethan Hawke plays weirdly-named sharpshooter Goodnight Robicheux. His budding, knives-wielding partner goes by Billy Rocks (Byung-hun Lee) — most likely not his given name. Vincent D’Onofrio is high-pitched mountain man Jack Horne, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo is the happy-go-lucky criminal Vasquez and Martin Sensmiere plays a relatively quiet, but all around badass, Native American Red Harvest.
Because of some of the mainstream stars within the group, we get to see more character development and screen-time dedicated to them while Billy Rocks, Red Harvest and Vasquez are there for the humorous remarks and the action scenes.
Pratt’s performance as Faraday was a let down. His motivation wasn’t clearly defined, other than wanting his horse back — which felt silly in its own right. Most of the chuckle-worthy scenes derive from Pratt’s usual quick responses, which feels like he was typecasted to be the charasmatic smartass.
We also don’t see the extent of Billy Rocks’ and Red Harvest’s acting talents, whereby they stay nearly silent as compared to their other companions. They do, however, provide a nice change of pace when they use nearly-primitive weapons like knives and arrows when everyone else is using guns.
Director Antoine Fuqua rides again with Washington and Hawke from “Training Day” to reimagine the movie as a bustling action film that tests the extent of the PG-13 rating. By that, the gratuitous violence reaches its limit. While there is no distinct blood spurt whenever someone is shot, there are noticeable bullet holes in the gunshot victims, and Billy Rocks provides a good amount of stabbing sprees.
The basic plot, if compared to the originals, lacks any sort of substance, as most of the development was primarily upon building up to the battle before Bartholomew’s retaliation. Once the climactic battle begins, it goes on for 10 to 20 minutes with the typical “good guys are losing and now they’re winning back” trope, except it’s more padded out.
The action scenes are indefinitely intense, the usage of practical effects was engaging, and the set-pieces get much larger than the original. “The Magnificent Seven” is another Hollywood-remake that doesn’t lasso onto what made the original so great, but at least you may have something entertaining to watch while eating a good bucket of popcorn.