The Magnificent Seven

The Magnificent Seven is the remake of the 1960 movie of the same name which was an adaptation of Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai. The kind of bled shed cowboy manner the movie showcases definitely adds spice to its exterior look for sure. But the political intensity which was there in the other two versions of this story was severely missing here mostly because of the minimization done towards the end of the film.

The village Rose Creek is under the control of a feudal industrialist Bartholomew Bogue. The people there are afraid of him and they are clueless on what to do after they got threatened to give their lands to him for a very small price. Two among them decided to seek help from a warrant officer/bounty hunter Sam Chisolm for their protection and offers him everything they have and also tells him about the gold Bogue has kept in their village. After a little bit of a debate, Chisolm finally agrees to do them the favour. The film is basically about how Chisolm recruits the team he needed for this work and how it ultimately culminates.

The main creative reinterpretation done by director Antoine Fuqua is in selecting his magnificent seven for this remake. Afro American, Red Indian, The whites and even an Asian guy is there in the list of Fuqua. Well this has definitely helped the movie in having a different kind of Magnificent Seven for sure. The 1960 version of the movie had a different approach to the “saving the villagers” part of the screenplay. A better bonding and an even stronger conflict was there in that film. But where Antoine Fuqua’s film misses is in those areas. When the end credit narrates our heroes as some kind of selfless souls, we don’t really feel that in an emotional way. Even when Chris Pratt’s Farraday dies in a suicidal style, it looks more like commercial movie heroics rather than a selfless sentimental one.

Well all the actors in the movie looks perfect for the roles assigned to them. Denzel Washington has that mysterious and intense look in his eyes to be the captain of the team. Chris Pratt is the typical cowboy and was pretty cool. Ethan Hawke as the confused Goodnight and Byung-Hun Lee as Billy was also quiet pleasing. Haley Bennet as Emma was also nice.

Director Antoine Fuqua has this style of giving one liners to his heroes, and with this one he has parted that style to almost all of them. You will like the cowboy rapport these characters have. Even after having a very brutal and catchy set piece in the end of the film, the content isn’t that absorbing. The emotional layer was reduced to that one dialogue Chisolm tells to Bogue about who he exactly was. The answer of Emma’s question on why they were fighting someone else’s fight wasn’t conveyed satisfyingly. The locations are perfect for the post Civil war setup and the visuals were really good.

The Magnificent Seven has the swag of a cowboy movie, but lacks the depth of a selfless sacrifice. It is definitely a watchable one if you aren’t trying to compare it with the original versions.

Rating : 2.5/5