Movie Review 046 Magnificent Seven

Magnificent Seven
[092316] 70%

It is a stacked cast full of diverse established actors playing characters with different and clashing personalities with the standout charismatic Chisolm and the jokester Josh Faraday leading the pack that include the conflicted Goodnight, his knife assassin friend Billy Rocks and Jack Horne who was turning a new leaf while the last two got the short end of the stick by not getting enough introduction and character progression to be compelling additions to the group. It is admirable to not even mention the diversity at all in the storytelling which would be more emphasized under other director but not Antoine Fuqua. It is their own distinct characteristics that define them and not their races at all but it was unfortunate that the director wouldn't play with what's on the table already, using the diversity angle to the benefit of the movie.

The basic theme of good versus evil is the main through line of the protagonists' motivation to defend the town and being the perfect glorified personification of the western genre without anything new and inventive added to it. The action set pieces are few and far between but the buildup was decent enough as the payoff is worth the wait as they are excellently choreographed and fluidly shot without any application of today's worn down trends (i.e. slow motions and shaky cams) to mar the wonder of classic western shootouts.

- Synopsis -

Seven gun men in the old west gradually come together to help a poor village against savage thieves.

- 63%/ 79% - 7.2/10 - official - wiki -

Cast
Denzel Washington - Chisolm
Chris Pratt - Josh Faraday
Ethan Hawke - Goodnight Robicheaux
Vincent D'Onofrio - Jack Horne
Byung-Hun Lee - Billy Rocks
Haley Bennett - Emma Cullen
Peter Sarsgaard - Bartholomew Bogue
...

"A throwback fun western without actually bringing anything new to the table but executed it to almost perfection."

(Director Antoine Fuqua [Training Day, the Equalizer], Budget $90 Millions = Box Office $102.9>> Millions [US], Duration 2hrs 13mn, Rating PG-13, Genre Action, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Western)

+ Highlights +

gorgeous cinematography, old school style of western without gory and blood and only puff of smoke and pinpoint choreography, active female protagonist, fitting soundtrack, wonderful cast with standouts charismatic badass Chisolm, jokester Faraday and ruthless Horne, fitting amount of levity and drama to ciunterbalance the action, funny moments with their own natural characteristics and great chemistry with each other that definitely would leave you wanting more, epic shootouts and standoffs with some action sequences and set pieces

- Lowlights -

weak and too fast character introductions without much character developments, the divisive performance by Chris Pratt, Vincent and Peter (the main villain) with the direction of their characters, the female lead's rather too revealing dress, stereotypical jokes although in jest in face of imminent death, the downtrodden western trope of classic good guy versus bad guy and other now overused tropes of the genre, unnecessary holding back the backstories of some of them, the unnecessary Indian vs Indian fight, the long duration of the movie that could be noticeable for some, the drop in quality of the last scene with the awkward voiceover and cringeworthy CGI

Source: Andre 'Black Nerd', Collider