MOVIE REVIEW: THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN -

THIS ISN’T YOUR FATHER’S MAGNIFICENT SEVEN

Director: Antoine Fuqua

Starring: Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D’Onofrio, Byung-hun Lee, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Martin Sensmeier, Luke Grimes, Haley Bennett, Peter Sarsgaard and Matt Bomer

Studio: Sony/MGM

Rated: 14A

Running Time: 2 Hrs, 12 Mins

This isn’t your father’s Magnificent Seven. Or even his western for that matter.

Sony took a beating over the summer with their Ghostbusters remake, particularly for gender swapping the whole cast. The studio took more than a calculated risk releasing another remake the same year, especially when they once again diversified a formerly all white cast on a movie many consider a classic. While it’s too early to tell how moviegoers will receive the new Magnificent Seven with their wallets, the on-screen product is decent enough.

Video: Sony Pictures Entertainment

The citizens of Rose Creek are under siege by mining oligarch Bartholomew Bogue (Peter Sarsgaard). Bogue, whose cold blooded ruthlessness matches his ambition, is slaughtering any townsfolk who refuse his offer to purchase their land for mere pennies. After watching her husband murdered in cold blood (with a bought and paid for sheriff standing idly by), Emma Cullen (Haley Bennett) scrapes together everything she can and hires a bounty hunter named Chisholm (Denzel Washington) to defend what’s left of their town. Chisholm gathers six additional outlaws, brigands and hired guns to their cause because not only does Bogue own the local law, he also has an army at his disposal. And when he learns of the town’s defiance he returns in full force, intent on filling entire graveyards with the good citizens of Rose Creek.

Westerns used to be the dominant force in American entertainment, whether it was TV or the silver screen. During their heyday the cowboys were all middle age white guys, the women were always damsels in distress, actual history like slavery was ignored and indigenous peoples were always mindless, bloodthirsty bad guys. Hollywood’s attempts to drag the genre into the new millennium may have been clumsy but have always met with stubborn reluctance by mainstream audiences. But while the cast of the original Magnificent Seven (headlined by Steve McQueen) was whiter than a gallon of vanilla ice cream, this upgrade has a much more ethnically diverse cast of heroes.

And it works.

This movie will get definitely scratch your action itch. There are gunfights galore and a pair or rousing action scenes. The climactic battle is pretty impressive and stands out as the movie’s high point. There isn’t any hand-to-hand combat (despite the presence of Byung-hun Lee as the knife wielding, sharpshooting assassin) but if you’re into vintage guns and explosions, this is the movie for you. The action is definitely a tip of the hat to the classic westerns of the John Wayne era, and while it’s much more real some of the genre’s familiar action tropes manage to creep in. Plenty of Bogue’s henchmen make Storm troopers look like expert marksman while the heroes can hit a fly at a thousand yards. But still, the action is a pretty strong sell.

A nice level of camaraderie develops among the cast and it’s mildly amusing watching some rudimentary bonds develop among Chisholm’s posse, especially when that fledgling rapport is tested in battle. The primary leads fill their roles reasonably well but there aren’t going to be any Oscars won as a result of their performance here (at times Chris Pratt’s roguish charm shines through while at other times it feels restrained). The movie flirts with the idea that there is some history between some of the characters and even Bogue himself, but it never really explores those avenues. What little conflict there is between the characters feels forced and token and the film may have benefitted from exploring that tension further.

Skaarsgard is decent as the merciless Oligarch Bogue but he fails to be a decent counter to Washington’s heroic Chisholm. Washington’s natural screen presence easily overpowers Skaarsgard’s; especially in the scenes the two share together. And while the movie effectively updated the ethnic diversity of the cast, it might have been nice to see it give women a stronger voice. But while Bennett’s Cullen may be a widow, she is no typical damsel in distress.

Director Antoine Fuqua does a good job of keeping the movie moving at a brisk pace, slowing just enough to allow some light hearted interaction between the characters and plenty of opportunity for it to show off it’s strong action beats. This probably isn’t going to make anyone forget the original 1960 Magnificent Seven, but it’s a respectable update. And in the end, it isn’t a bad autumn action movie before we head into awards season and Christmas.