Movie Review: The Magnificent Seven
Nov. 11th, 2016 07:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bedsitter23A break from politics to say I saw the Magnificent Seven remake/reboot.
I expected big things with the combination of Antoine Fuqua and Denzel Washington (and to remind you of Training Day, also Ethan Hawke).
M7 is a good film. A very good film. I have a feeling that if this was 20 years ago, it would probably be a game changer.
However, we live in a post- everything world. Post-Unforgiven. Post-Deadwood. Post- Tombstone. There have been many many films like The Proposition that have redefined gritty western. I would even put the True Grit remake on the list that are redefining the genre.
That said, M7 is not a great movie because it never strives for more than what it is. It is hard seeing this movie as an attempt for Oscar glory, but I don't know that it ever set out for that.
All of that definition out of the way, it's a good flick. It's violent as you might expect, and it has the big finish that might be outlandish, but none of it ever gets in the way of a great action flick. Indeed, on paper, it's pretty predictable, but it never 'feels' that way.
Denzel of course is great, but I think Fuqua is the one that finds way to elevate a standard action trope. The cast could have been budget-busting A-listers. It's not, but it's a competent cast- Hawke, Chris Pratt, Vincent D'Onofrio, Lee Byung-hun and a bunch of better-than-average supporting actors. I also liked Peter Sarsgaard as the Occupy Wall Street-style villian with a vague sense of supreme creepiness around him.
Indeed, this is very much the team-up action movie. Critics are not wrong when they compare it to movies like The Avengers and The A-Team as this film's spiritual cousins.
For that, it really is a good film. The film never overdevelops to the point that it gets bogged down in storyline (it does not need much of a story), and my criticism of plotting is nearly non-existent (The Hawke character relationship probably could have been brought out more. There really isn't much to see if you were expecting a return to the Training Day pairing).
Indeed, that the movie seems simple enough is a high compliment to Fuqua. The makers of the most recent Lone Ranger remake were probably attempting a film like this one, and that was an almost complete failure.
Fuqua succeeds. I won't be surprised to see this on longer year end lists (Top 20s) and more mainstream lists, as it is a very good popcorn film. It just stops short in its ambitions. Nothing wrong with that, but true; and truth been told, if I hadn't watched movies for decades, had never heard of the original film or The Seven Samurai, I would probably be a teenager who absolutely loved it. Still, I will settle for a dang good film.
I expected big things with the combination of Antoine Fuqua and Denzel Washington (and to remind you of Training Day, also Ethan Hawke).
M7 is a good film. A very good film. I have a feeling that if this was 20 years ago, it would probably be a game changer.
However, we live in a post- everything world. Post-Unforgiven. Post-Deadwood. Post- Tombstone. There have been many many films like The Proposition that have redefined gritty western. I would even put the True Grit remake on the list that are redefining the genre.
That said, M7 is not a great movie because it never strives for more than what it is. It is hard seeing this movie as an attempt for Oscar glory, but I don't know that it ever set out for that.
All of that definition out of the way, it's a good flick. It's violent as you might expect, and it has the big finish that might be outlandish, but none of it ever gets in the way of a great action flick. Indeed, on paper, it's pretty predictable, but it never 'feels' that way.
Denzel of course is great, but I think Fuqua is the one that finds way to elevate a standard action trope. The cast could have been budget-busting A-listers. It's not, but it's a competent cast- Hawke, Chris Pratt, Vincent D'Onofrio, Lee Byung-hun and a bunch of better-than-average supporting actors. I also liked Peter Sarsgaard as the Occupy Wall Street-style villian with a vague sense of supreme creepiness around him.
Indeed, this is very much the team-up action movie. Critics are not wrong when they compare it to movies like The Avengers and The A-Team as this film's spiritual cousins.
For that, it really is a good film. The film never overdevelops to the point that it gets bogged down in storyline (it does not need much of a story), and my criticism of plotting is nearly non-existent (The Hawke character relationship probably could have been brought out more. There really isn't much to see if you were expecting a return to the Training Day pairing).
Indeed, that the movie seems simple enough is a high compliment to Fuqua. The makers of the most recent Lone Ranger remake were probably attempting a film like this one, and that was an almost complete failure.
Fuqua succeeds. I won't be surprised to see this on longer year end lists (Top 20s) and more mainstream lists, as it is a very good popcorn film. It just stops short in its ambitions. Nothing wrong with that, but true; and truth been told, if I hadn't watched movies for decades, had never heard of the original film or The Seven Samurai, I would probably be a teenager who absolutely loved it. Still, I will settle for a dang good film.
