Film: The Magnificent Seven
Cast: Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke
Director: Antoine Fuqua
Rating:
Review: The Magnificent Seven - Denzel Washington and Chris Pratt get their cowboy freak on in this long-drawn cowboy western
For a movie that has released in 2016, The Magnificent Seven is as good a cowboy movie as you can hope for. The star cast - Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke and a whole bunch of talented actors - seem absolutely in love with the idea of being in a full-blown western. There is a Mexican. There are standoffs. There's even a Mexican standoff. There's also lawlessness in the land and everybody is a certified gunslinger. What more could you ask for?
Denzel Washington holds the fort, playing the restrained, slightly pained bounty hunter (he prefers reeling off the list of states where he's a 'licensed enforcer') Sam Chisolm. As with every cowboy, he's a man with a past. He gets a shot at getting even with the man who scarred said past, dictatorial industrialist Bartholomew Bogue, after a damsel in distress asks him to 'free their townsfolk' from Bogue's clutches.
Seeing as how they've got to kill the rough equivalent of the light brigade or thereabouts to defeat Bogue, he signs up a motley crew of gunslingers, wise-crackers and basically fighting men numbering (you guessed it) seven. There's a Mexican, an Irishman, a native Indian, on Oriental, a baptist and a gambler besides Washington - so they've got the diversity paradigm covered.
Though director Antoine Fuqua, who's a world away from his Training Day breeches, spends a fair bit of time allowing the men to bond and sort of build up a grudging appreciation for each other as they prepare for a showdown, it stops short of getting boring. Just about.
There are two good ol' western shootouts in the film. The second one, understandably, spans what seems like the last 30 minutes of the 135 minute film. If you like lots of sharpshooting, a rising body count and lots of horses flying around, I guarantee it, you will love this. One thing that keeps this movie alive, besides the strength of the star cast, is the exquisite detailing of the sets and locales used.
If you've never seen a cowboy movie before, this may be a good place to start. A heavily stylised remake of a remake of a Kurosawa original called The Seven Samurai, the pace of this picture does slacken and buck up on spurts. But if you're even imagining sitting through Hollywood's classic cowboy westerns, you'll need a hell of a lot more patience, so get some practice with this one.