The Magnificent Seven

The story was created decades ago, but it never gets old. From Akira Kurosawa’s “Seven Samurai” in 1954, remade as “The Magnificent Seven” in 1960, we now get a twenty-first century look at good, old fashioned cowboy vigilante justice. But not really. The imagination doesn’t stray far from the Yul Bryner version, complete with a multicultural motley crew, and a helpless town who rely on seven strangers to protect them from the evil violence of capitalism disguised as progress.

Starting off by painting an idyllic picture of a prairie town, we are abruptly shaken by the dynamite explosions and chaos of a brutal gold mining operation. Bartholomew Bogue (Peter Sarsgaard) is an entrepreneurial tycoon who decimates town after town by lowballing the citizens, eventually driving them out through coercion. He is borderline sociopathic, and remorseless in his death dealing if it stands in the way of his financial goals.

Denzel Washington is the man in black as Chisolm, a bounty hunter who stumbles upon the hapless town, and begins to round up his gun slinging compatriots in an act that is simply revenge justified as righteousness. He is typical cool, smooth Washington, but didn’t show enough emotion to create a memorable character.

Homegrown product Chris Pratt (Lake Stevens) manages to easily upstage Washington at every turn, which is no easy feat. He plays the comic relief as the gambler, lothario, and easy-shooting cowboy, Josh Faraday. He is likeable and doesn’t seem to need to act aside from his broken southern accent. He exudes coolness, and although his star has been on the rise for some time, this performance certainly doesn’t hurt.

Hayley Bennett (the upcoming “The Girl on the Train”) is Emma Cullen, the hardened and scorned woman who manages to round up the men, and never quite emerges from the background to present a character of any depth. She’s a Jennifer Lawrence doppleganger and dresses a bit too risqué for the time and place, and the men are perfect gentlemen of course. I get the reason, there needs to be a damsel in distress, and when there’s an opportunity for a corset, I suppose you have to take advantage.

Director Antoine Fuqua presents a disappointingly vanilla take on the genre. Although he conjures the spirit of Sam Peckinpah in what is more “The Wild Bunch” than “Seven Samurai”, the characters are drawn up with a bland sense of anonymity and the bonds created among the seven gunslingers is shallow and unsubstantiated. Even the inevitable connection at the end between Chisolm and Bogue is weak and trite. The archetypes are stereotypical (Asian martial artist, Mexican outlaw, Indian savage) and their willingness to join each other happens far too quickly and easily. There is little explanation for why all seven are willing to selflessly die for civilians and one another. It’s also a bit confusing how they are able to coalesce so quickly and seamlessly, as if they were a special forces unit.

I do feel that it could have used a change of venue as opposed to rehashing or retelling the Old West story. “Training Day” was a gritty and outstanding look at urban police warfare, and Fuqua hit the mark with his vision and realism. In today’s climate of rampant gun violence, a different setting would have been a welcome breath of fresh air and could have been really quite effective and clever, but I get paid to critique, not write screenplays.

Alas, for a western, “The Magnificent Seven” is an action-packed thrill ride that will definitely satisfy the romantic longing for the simple times. Lots of revolvers, horses, saloons, chaps, and hats. Pratt, and to some degree, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, who plays the Mexican outlaw, Vasquez, evoke an exciting and inspiring aura. The rest tend to simply go through the motions, particularly Ethan Hawke, who overacts and is startlingly haggard as Goodnight Robicheaux, the war hero with an inner-demon, and Vincent D’Onofrio, who is the tracker, Jack Horne.

If you are in the market for some good old-fashioned lead-slinging fun, and don’t want to overthink things, this will certainly suffice while you wait for the higher quality fare of the fall. Fuqua pulls out all the stops with his action sequences and it’s worth it for Pratt alone. 7/10.