Denzel Washington and Chris Pratt make two of The Magnificent Seven in this remake of the classic 1960s Western from director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day). Co-stars Ethan Hawke (Boyhood), Vincent D’Onofrio (TV’s Daredevil), Byung-hun Lee (I Saw the Devil), and Peter Sarsgaard (Experimenter).
With the town of Rose Creek under the deadly control of industrialist Bartholomew Bogue (Sarsgaard), the desperate townspeople employ protection from seven outlaws, bounty hunters, gamblers and hired guns – Sam Chisolm (Washington), Josh Farraday (Pratt), Goodnight Robicheaux (Hawke), Jack Horne (D’Onofrio), Billy Rocks (Lee), Vasquez (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Cake), and Red Harvest (Martin Sensmeier, Lilin’s Brood). As they prepare the town for the violent showdown that they know is coming, these seven mercenaries find themselves fighting for more than money.
The characters in this new version are completely different to the ones played by Yul Brynner, Eli Wallach and Steve McQueen back in 1960. The original The Magnificent Seven was also a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai, which sort-of makes this one a re-remake.
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The Magnificent Seven is an agreeable remake, not bad for an Antoine Fuqua flick, if ultimately an unmemorable movie. Written by Nic Pizzolatto (of True Detective infamy) and Richard Wenk (of The Expendables 2 infamy), this update of the iconic 1960 John Sturges western - itself a redo of Akira Kurosawa’s classic Seven Samurai - is evidently informed by a surface-level “wokeness” that’s attuned to our sociopolitical zeitgeist.
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Not quite magnificent but certainly Fuqua's best since Training Day and a rare remake that actually delivers. Yee-haw!
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A vehicle for wall-to-wall action, and an unambiguously fond farewell to the Obama years.
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The new movie is as moth-eaten as the serapes strewn through the 1960 film, but there's no denying the appeal of the image of Mr. Washington riding a horse, shooting a Colt and leading a posse of vigilantes to save a mostly white Western town.
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There's a fine line between a slowburn and dull, and this Magnificent Seven frequently finds itself on the wrong side.
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You don't "remake" a film like The Magnificent Seven by simply recreating some of the original's action scenes and adding a couple of new characters. That's just imitation.
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It does, however, earn its spurs with an entertaining ensemble led by Washington, whose black bounty hunter never gets called out because of his race because clearly he's just way too cool.
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Nothing particularly original or fresh has been injected into this competently made, violent but uningratiating remake of the star-studded John Sturges Western, which itself was a redo of Akira Kurosawa's imperishable 1954 classic, Seven Samurai.
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Slick but forgettable, Fuqua's suicide squad is a macho posse movie that could use a jab of fun. It's The Magnificent Seven, but the "magnificent" is silent.
Full reviewThe Magnificent Seven (2016) is available to stream in New Zealand now on Google Play and Apple TV.
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