Antoine Fuqua

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Robert McCall serves an unflinching justice for the exploited and oppressed, but how far will he go when that is someone he loves?

Watch the TV series, the first film adaptation and then the sequel! Denzel Washington returns as what has been touted as his first sequel, reprising the role as vigilant fighter for the people.

The lean and lazy plot involves EQUALIZER 2, Robert McCall (Washington) learning that one of his longtime friends, Susan Plummer (Melissa Leo, the best thing about the movie – watch her fight), has been murdered. McCall decides to return to his old ways and seek out, find and punish the perpetrators. In the mean time, he helps several Bostonians including a young black man who has the gift of painting, Miles (Ashton Sanders, from MOONLIGHT) and Fatimah (Sakina Jaffrey). In the midst of all this, he pines over the loss of his wife. He is still friends with his ex-partner, Dave York (Pedro Pascal), his pal and former partner in the CIA who turns out to be a and guy, quite early in the film. Dave has a family and children, which the story totally neglects towards the end of the film.

Washington puts in his 2-cents worth as McCall even going over emotional in trying to lead Miles to turn over a brew leaf. Veteran actor Bill Pullman is largely underused as Susan’s husband, targeted to be killed being a ‘loose end’.

The film has a few interesting points like the first appearance of Washington at the start of the film on a train in Turkey. When the camera first offers the audience a glimpse of him, he is wearing an orange beard with a white cap and glasses looking like devout Muslim. The scene is obviously milked for laughs. It is very funny, though I found self the only one in the theatre breaking into laughter. Director Fuqua also inserts a few suspenseful scenes that deserves mention, like the one in which Miles is hiding in a panic room where there is a two-way glass separating the killer and Miles.

Impressive too, is the storm cinematography. The film’s climax coinciding with a hurricane arriving in Boston by the sea where the fighters engage in the fight out in the open amidst strong winds and gushing sea water makes a welcome change. This climax does remind one of the blowing tumbleweeds in the ending shoot out in THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, Fuqua’s last action movie. Cinematography is by Oliver Wood ( who normally does work of this kind in action movies like the BOURNE series and DIE HARD, who first gained attention with his work using natural light to light up the 1969 cult movie THE HONEYMOON KILLERS). One could argue that a hurricane in the climax might be distracting to the action, but one must give director Fuqua credit for trying something different.

There was a clash of times for the promo screening for EQUALIZER 2 and MAMMA MIA2. I had picked EQUALIZER 2 as I hated MAMMA MIA one, especially having to watch Meryl Street jumping up and down the bed like an annoying teenager, not to mention hearing Pierce Brosnan sing. The latter film has so far gotten positive reviews compared to EQUALIZER 2, likely for the reason of expectations. One expect better and different from EQUALIZER 2 director of turning point films like TRAINING DAY. EQUALIZER 2 is not that bad. It is what one would expect from the action director – a generally slower moving actioner, with over quick fight edit sequences and lots of blood and gore.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyNJ3UrGk_I

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

Starring: Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D’Onofrio, Haley Bennett

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