The Magnificent Seven

 

Let's be honest here. If there was any movie that does not ever need to be remade it's this one. The 60s version with the great Yul Brynner was the gold standard of great westerns and forever put me in love with the genre. I love the idea of a few good guys taking on many bad guys just because it's the right thing to do.

Chris Pratt is always good and here he is especially charming in the Steve McQueen role. He's the second banana who gets all the good lines and best jokes. The film spends a lot of time building on the characters of the Seven and that pays off in the final scenes.

Denzel Washington is also very good. I haven't seen him in anything for years and that might be the reason I liked him so much in this one. He had all his great acting 'ticks' and was steely cool in moments of crisis.

 

The rest of the cast is a nice mix with Vincent D'Onofrio a standout as the tracker. He totally changes his voice and his mannerisms. He is the anti-Kingpin and I am so glad he took this role. I know he is going to die because I like his character too much. In fact I like all of the 'Seven', even Ethan Hawke which surprised me most of all. I usually can't stand him in anything.

 

 

This movie follows all the great Western movie tropes and I wouldn't have it any other way. If you are going to MAKE  a western then you really don't have to try to re-invent the wheel, especially if you are remaking a western classic. This film has every reason to fail which makes the fact that it is pretty good even more remarkable. I had a great time watching this one. The final battle is very cool and well shot. Many a stuntman earned their money that day. And so did several horses I would guess. Did they need to remake this one? No. But I am glad they did.