Western Wednesdays: The Magnificent Seven

     The Magnificent Seven is directed by Antoine Fuque, It is a remake of the 1960 film of the same name (which itself is a loose remake of the 1954 classic Seven Samurai). It stars Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, and Ethan Hawke. It tells the story of seven gun men who are hired by poor villagers to defend them against a gang of bandits.

     The plot of Seven Samurai has been re-used so many times it begs the question: why remake it again? What, if anything, does this film have to offer that previous retellings don't? For one thing the social commentary, which deeply informed Samurai and was brushed over in favor of more traditional western tropes in the original Magnificent Seven, is more pronounced this time around. That is to say, it's less subtle and, as a result, the film is more broadly appealing. That can be said of this film generally. It's more mainstream and, while it's to the films credit that it retains some of the social themes of Seven Samurai, it's also, unfortunately, more action driven and less character driven. This isn't a crippling flaw. There's still enough character development to make you care about what's going on, but it is disappointing, especially considering the quality of some of Fuque's earlier films. There's also a third act reveal about one of the characters motives that I didn't really care for.

     The movie features solid performances, especially from Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke though Chris Pratt's a bit of a weak spot and can't help but feel a little out-of-place in a period piece. The action is fun and fairly coherent, though nothing amazing. There are nods to the original, which are appropriately subtle and well integrated into the film. Overall The Magnificent Seven is a pretty fun little western.

     In my review of Jane Got a Gun I noted that it was somewhat old school in the way it was shot and edited. I can't really same the same for this movie. It's much more frantically edited and uses hand held camera work most of the time. For most of the runtime it looked as if the movie would avoid any noticeable use of CGI. If only it ended sixty seconds sooner.

Score: 8/10