The Magnificent Seven - Movie Review
Nothing like a good ol' fashion, mud stoppin' western to put hair on the chest and get the blood pumpin'. How well does this remake of another remake hold up? Let's break down the modern day version of The Magnificent Seven.
The Magnificent Seven (2016) is directed by Antoine Fuqua and tells the story of a small town called Rose Creek that gets taken over by an evil man and his deadly legion of thuggish cowboys. The townspeople of Rose Creek are desperate for help and employ the talent of notorious bounty hunter, Sam Chisolm (Denzel Washington) to recruit a new team to take down these scumbags for good. Thus, you have The Magnificent Seven.
Now the only thing I knew for sure about this film is that the trailer looked cool and that's it. As I said in my hook, this 2016 incarnation is a remake of the 1960 film that also happened to be a remake of a 1954 film. That's a lot of remakes. That said, I've never seen either one of the first two interpretations so I wouldn't be able to compare this 2016 version to its predecessors.
And yes, the plot of this movie is western films 101. Nothing is really innovative about this film, but that doesn't mean it can't kick a bunch of ass. Because, that's what it did. This movie kicks ass in a damn entertaining way.
The biggest standouts of this film are, no surprise, Denzel Washington and Chris Pratt. Let's start with Washington. I mean it's Denzel Washington, people. Similarly to when I talked about Tom Hanks in Sully, Washington is an actor who's become an expert of his craft for years now. Needless to say, he's awesome. Nuff said.
Chris Pratt, once again, deliveries another strong, entertaining, likable performance in this film. This guy continues to impress me every time he's in something new in theaters. It's crazy to see how far he's come from his Parks & Rec days to now being one of the biggest action stars today.
I can't discredited the rest of the Magnificent Seven either, they all played their respective roles extremely well. Ethan Hawke does a great job in this film and it's really cool to see him and Denzel share the screen together again since Training Day. All in all, this team of seven deserves to be praised.
Of course, we gotta talk about the shootouts in this film because they're awesome. Granted there's only a few that happen, but when they happen, they're so badass. These are your standard, western standoff action scenes that are effectively engaging and thrilling nonetheless. I believe the reason these typical western tropes work so well here is because we as moviegoers, haven't really seen anything like this in a long while.
The cinematography in this film is very impressive as well. There are shots in this movie that honest to God, made me say "damn" out loud. Beautiful screenshots of multiple landscapes were superb to say the least. Along with a very solid western soundtrack to team up with, the film gave off a strong, gritty, western vibe which I really dugged.
In the end, this Magnificent Seven film knew how to effectively entertain, it's a total blast from start to finish. This incredibly, talented group of actors were able to ride the coattails of previous western movie ideas and used them to their advantage, delivering a well-directed, western popcorn flick for the modern era with tons of badassery.
I'm going to give The Magnificent Seven (2016) an "A-" on the movie grading scale. Go check this one out, it's a damn good time. And if you want, you should do a dead body count for this film because holy hell, there's a lot. Just for spite.
As always, thanks so much for reading and make sure to stay posted to Frank’s Takes for more reviews. Until next time, keep it 100.
– Frank
