THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (USA 2016) ***
Directed by Antoine Fuqua

Review by Gilbert Seah

This 2016 version that opened the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival is a western film remade from John Sturges’ successful 1960 version that itself was a remake of the 1955 Samurai film called SEVEN SAMURAI by Akira Kurosawa. Those who have seen either of the remakes know that either one was much superior. But Fuqua’s updated version is true to its source, still fun and pays loyal homage to the classic western in every department.

The story, simple enough is one that most are familiar with. A band of 7 misfits are recruited to save a town from an evil land baron. They succeed with some losses no doubt.

The original 7 spawned a sequel and this one should as well, as this film seems destined to be a hit, helped by the fact that there is no competing action film out right now.
THE MAGNIFICENT 7 are played by:
Denzel Washington as Sam Chisolm, a bounty hunter, the leader of the Seven
Chris Pratt as Josh Farraday, a gambler with a fondness for explosives
Ethan Hawke as Goodnight Robicheaux, a sharpshooter
Vincent D’Onofrio as Jack Horne, a tracker
Byung-hun Lee as Billy Rocks, an assassin[9]
Manuel Garcia-Rulfo as Vasquez, a Mexican outlaw
Martin Sensmeier as Red Harvest, a Comanche warrior

The cast is excellent though a few like 2-time Oscar winner Denzel Washington has nothing much to do but grit his teeth. Director Fuqua has directed both Washington and Hawke before in TRAINING DAY and it is of no surprise that they play the two lead characters in the story, though the dullest of the 7. The most interesting of the 7 are the asian characters, Red Harvest who eats a raw heart and Billy Rock a Japanese with a hidden history though played by a Korean star.

Peter Sarsgaard plays the main villain Bartholomew Bogue, a corrupt industrialist well enough for an audience to hiss and boo at him.

For all that this remake is worth, Fuqua appears apt at setting up the action set-pieces, right from the very first scene when the town is taken over by Bogue. The mid-section when the 7 rid the town of Bogue’s men and the final showdown are all expertly setup from the camera angles, to the close-ups, to the fights right down to the way the sun shines through the camera lenses (cinematography by Mauro Fiore), as is seen so often during the old westerns. The screen also saturates to red like the old 60’s credits of the spaghetti westerns.

Just as the confrontational shootout at the climax is riddled with bullets, the film is also riddled with cliches. When Robicheaux is reprimanded by Chisolm after turning chicken and taking off the night before, one knows he is going to show up the next day to help the fight. When another Red Indian is shown as one of Bogue’s new recruits, he and Red Harvest will face off in a hand-to-hand combat fight. The Mexican and the gambler throwing insults at each other will end up saving each other’s lives. And the villain and the hero, Bogue an Chisolm eventually meet for a gunfight draw in the true western tradition.
Fans of westerns will not be disappointed with THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN. The only surprise in the movie is that the entire film, directed by Fuqua has only one black character, throne played by Washington.

There is no credit mention of Sturges’s MAGNIFICENT SEVEN or Kurosawa’s SEVEN SAMURAI in the end credits though Elmer Berstein is credited with his MAGNIFICENT SEVEN score which was used in Fuqua’s film. But the film is dedicated to James Horner, who partly did the music for the film and passed away before the film’s completion.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anyMa2gN6uw