FilmSnobReviews

Title: The Magnificent Seven
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Director: Antoine Fuqua
Starring: Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Haley Bennett
Runtime: 2 hr 13 mins

What It Is: When Bartholomew Bogue comes into a small town and threatens them if they don’t sell their land a newly widowed woman by the name of Emma (Bennett) seeks help from a Bounty Hunter named Chisolm (Washington). To help with the army that Bogue intends to bring Chisolm assembles what he can. With that he finds a gambler in Mr. Faraday (Pratt), a sniper and his particularly dangerous Asian friend (Ethan Hawke and Byung Hun-Lee) a Mexican Outlaw (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), a mountain man (Vincent D’Onofrio) and a Native American (Martin Sensmeier). It’ll be this magnificent seven against Bogue’s army. May the best men win.

What We Think: Fuqua really understands an action set piece. I’ll give him that! One inherent problem we run into here is that the editing is sloppy and I think that there are a lot of narrative problems. It too often tries to go style over substance. This is an issue with all or most of Fuqua’s work. It is almost his calling card. I would say though that there are worse things to be known for. None of the acting here is particularly world-beating but it is serviceable for what it has to be. Fuqua does know how to get the most out of his actors, it’s just that the material lets him down. Richard Wenk and Nic Pizzolatto worked this script and whatever they turned in was disappointing, to say the least.

Our Grade: C+, A good action movie but not a good western by any means this is a good time at the movies and continues 2016’s good but not a great stretch of films. I’ll say this you will have a ball with this film. If you’re looking for a film that won’t make you think and will instead just allow you to relax and not worry about stuff, well in that regard this film is perfect.