The classic western, a dying genre, finally has a film that might bring it back to life with Antoine Fuqua’s The Magnificent Seven.
When her small town is taken over, Emma Cullen (Haley Bennett) assembles together seven gunslingers to fight and save her home.
Westerns are a personal favourite of mine and to see a film that does them justice is so refreshing! Antoine Fuqua was able to take what is so beloved about the Old West and put it on screen in a near flawless manner. Not only did he make a great western, he made a great remake! In a world where remakes come out every other week, The Magnificent Seven was able to do what remakes are supposed to; give a reimagining of a great story and show what was so great about the original in a modern way.
The performances by all were great! With Denzel Washington leading and Chris Pratt supporting, you have a nice blend of humour and seriousness which doesn’t overshadow the action sequences in any way. Peter Sarsgaard is also a great talent in this film as he displays perfectly what a true antagonist is meant to be. The back and forth between the seven and Sarsgaard’s gang is fun and brutal when it comes to the action scenes.
The best part about this movie has to be the fact that it is a western that doesn’t try too hard to be. From the start, all the way to the ending credits, you feel as though you’ve taken a trip back to the late 1800s and the authenticity of the era really takes you by surprise! The music complimented this feeling and brought a real gravitas to the film. The story starts off a little slow, but is intriguing enough to keep you engaged the whole first act. I cannot express enough how much this is a real, classic western!
So if you’ve been missing the old Clint Eastwood or John Wayne westerns, you’re in luck as The Magnificent Seven has brought back that classic feel. It doesn’t try to play off the name or its actors; it genuinely is a good film with its talent in front of and behind the camera giving 100%. I would encourage everyone to go see this movie as these are the type of remakes we need to see coming out of Hollywood and not the cash-grabs we’ve been getting recently. I’d love to see a resurgence in the classic western and I think that The Magnificent Seven may have just lit that flame!
Fun Fact:
The horse that Chris Pratt rode in this film was the star of War Horse (2011).
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