MOVIE REVIEW: THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN

Director:
Antoine Fuqua

Cast:
Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke.

In this golden age of sequels, reboots, and remakes, comes another one from director Antoine Fuqua. He’s reteaming with his “Equalizer” star, Denzel Washington for this big budget and gritty remake of the 1960 western classic. This time he’s even grabbed his “Training Day” co-star Ethan Hawke to join in.

“The Magnificent Seven” is a true Western, in almost every sense. From the sweeping vistas, to the saloon shoot outs. The story is about as basic as it comes, and that’s part of the charm. A small western town is being taken over be a dastardly villain of a business man, the townsfolk hire a gunman to take revenge, the gunman recruits some more dangerous partners to help fight.  You know exactly who the bad guys are, and want to see them punished 5 minutes into the movie. You know who the heroes are, and you’re following the developments until they reach their inevitable conclusion.

There’s not a lot of stretching here, and that includes the actors. Denzel is just as smooth as he’s ever been playing a bad ass, it’s looks completely effortless on him. Chris Pratt is pretty much playing Chris Pratt again. Luckily he gets the best lines and he’s easily the character audiences will mostly identify with. The supporting characters are strong, even as their screen time is very limited. Ethan Hawke and Vincent D’onofrio have some great scenes. “Storm Shadow” himself Byung-Hun Lee is a calm and collected precision killer.

This is a full blown, by the numbers Cowboy action movie, and it’s very entertaining. By the time we get to the big (I mean BIG) shootout at the end, you’re are right along with this adventure to the end. There’s a few spaces where the script felt like it could use a little touching up, but it accomplishes exactly what it set out to do. As I’m watching it, I got the feeling that THIS is what the  “Suicide Squad” movie should have been like.

Grade: 3.5 out of 5

-Markellus