'The Magnificent Seven' Review

Image from Movieweb

By Diego Coya

            The Magnificent Seven is a remake of both Seven Samurai and the 1960’s The Magnificent Seven that stars Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D’Onofrio and Peter Sarsgaard. This remake is the retelling of the original story about seven men in the old west that unites together to help a village that has been taken over by a violent gang. The seven men include bounty hunters, gamblers, and hired guns. Antoine Fuqua directed this remake and has worked with Denzel Washington in the past (Training Day, The Equalizer). Being a fan of Fuqua, I was anticipating this film to be a great western.

            This version of The Magnificent Seven was somewhat of a letdown. It’s not a bad movie by any means, but it is pretty average at best. This film is the perfect example of pure fun, and if you are an audience member who doesn’t require more than that, then most likely you will really enjoy this film. For those who are expecting a great western film or a film that is really well done with top notch acting, writing, and directing (Django Unchained), then I would not recommend this film for you. However, let’s start with the positives because there are positives for sure.

            The performances from the A list cast are very good. Washington and Pratt are by far the standouts, Washington is one of the greatest actors that we have and he can totally sell any role that is he is playing. Chris Pratt is also a very likeable presence and like most of the films he’s in, he shows a lot of charisma and you can’t help but admire him. Hawke was also quite solid, it was nice to see him and Washington being together in a film after Training Day. I also liked how D’Onofrio was over the top as he has proven in the past that he can do over the top well in projects like Men in Black, Full Metal Jacket and Daredevil. Sarsgaard as the villain was fine, I wouldn’t say he was anything but okay in his role.

            Another praiseworthy factor of this film is that it is very self-aware of what it is. It never tries to be anything more than a fun entertaining western, which for some people may not necessarily be a positive. The film has its fun moments, and there are two shootouts that were incredibly well directed. In terms of the performances and the direction, it is a solid film. It’s the pacing and the lack of characterization that holds this back from being a terrific film.

            The pacing is unfortunately all over the place. It starts off pretty well, but then it drags. I’m not the type of viewer who wants nothing but action, but if there is not going to be action, the least they could have done is develop the characters or add layers to the story. I felt as if the only reason why the characters were so well done was because of the famous actors that were portraying them. For what it was, it was just fine. Nothing magnificent (no pun intended) but it has its fun moments. I would say to wait to rent it rather than spending money in the theater to see it.

Rating: 6/10