The Magnificent Seven (2016)

'The Magnificent Seven' is the second retelling of Akira Kurosawa's 'Seven Samurai' and stars Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, and Vincent D'onofrio. The film is directed by Antoine Fuqua, who brought us some excellent action films over the years such as 'Shooter' and 'Training Day' and with his newest work, he brings his A game once again. Now, I wouldn't say that 'Olympus has Fallen' or 'Shooter' are the best movies out there, however they do bring some great entertainment value and rewatchability to them and here it's no different. 

 

The story is one you've heard before, but here it's done very well with lots of action and flair to satisfy any fan of the Westerns of old. By far my favorite character was Chris Pratt's, who brings much of the film's humor and in general Mr. Pratt is always a pleasure to see on screen. Denzel Washington is the star here however, and he dominates any part of the film in which he appears. His scenes bring the most humanity and really the only character development as sadly the rest of the gang gets very little backstory beyond their intro scenes.

That's not to say the other six are wasted completely, as I said Chris Pratt brings the humor, whereas you have Ethan Hawke bringing the dramatic aspect, Lee Byung-hun brings mystery and some of the best action sequences with him and he always does a damn fine job in films like this. You also have D'onofrio as a very strange character, but still this odd performance does stand out among others and the actor is always strong in his roles (except sadly 'Jurassic World' but I won't blame him there.). The villain of this piece is particularly well performed by Peter Skarsgaard. You just absolutely hate this character and become so strongly invested in seeing his comeuppance that it keeps the pace going well for the overall film.

Where the film has its low points is in its character development and oddly in its two hour runtime. Now usually, I don't mind films that go over the two hour mark but here it can sometimes slow the pacing down and cause some boredom in between the epic action scenes. A little more trimming of the fat could have worked a little more in the film's favor. As I stated earlier, the film has a long time to build up some character backstory but beyond Pratt and Washington the time is wasted and while most film's such as this do not require such a thing, I must reference 'Seven Samurai' again. The film, while much longer than this one, still was able to set up everyone's motives in a much shorter and effective amount of time.

The film's best scenes are the two big shootouts, which are some of the best action scenes I have seen in years. These are some of the best choreographed and well shot fight scenes in a western film. The perfect mix of CGI and practical effects help sell the brutality of each fight. 'The Magnificent Seven' is a summer blockbuster film that was late to the party, but for whatever reason that may have been I haven't a clue. This film could have made the summer so much less mediocre than it was. I recommend this one, for fans of action or the old fashioned westerns. It's far from magnificent, but its still quite satisfying.