The Magnificent Seven review – a fun-filled remake

‘Seven outlaws band together to defend a town against a gang of thieves.’

As if Ben-Hur wasn’t bad enough, they’ve only gone and remade another classic, this time in the form of The Magnificent Seven, which the 1960 version itself was an English adaptation of Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai (1954). Shockingly though, Antoine Fuqua’s take on this story isn’t actually that bad, and whereas Ben-Hur (2016) was a lifeless and hollow copy of its predecessor, this version of The Magnificent Seven does feel fresh in places and have its own flavour. Although not a perfect film by any means, with a number of flaws to pick at, it still is a fun and entertaining movie with some good action scenes and character beats.

Unlike the original which centred on a Mexican farming village being terrorised by desperate bandits, Fuqua’s film revolves around the town of Rose Creek who are being run out of their homes by Peter Sarsgaard’s corrupt industrialist and his hired goons for the gold in the land. Like the original, the towns people seek the help of Sam Chisolm (Denzel Washington), who in turn enlists six others in the form of Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D’ Onofrio, Lee Byung-Hun, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo and Martin Sensmeier.

Normally, out of principal, I would disregard a remake of such a revered classic, but Fuqua’s film does hold some merit. For one thing, we have our “Magnificent Seven” played by some great actors who bring a lot of charisma to the table. With a large cast not every character can be that well developed, but I would say that each of the seven does get a moment to shine and they do display some good chemistry between each other.

The main three: Washington, Pratt and Hawke, are given some good arcs and are fleshed out a bit more so we have someone to root for. Washington particularly plays a convincing gunslinger and has that Clint Eastwood stare down. Also, Sarsgaard’s antagonist was played really despicable this time, with no redeemable quality compared to Eli Wallach’s slightly more sympathetic bandit.

Fuqua brought some marvellous action set pieces, especially that grand climatic showdown the story’s been building up to. The film’s success really rests on this final battle and fortunately, Fuqua nails it with a superbly directed, pulse racing action scene that will have you on the edge of your seats. The skirmishes and shootouts that come before are well handled – including a long stand-off that felt like a homage to Sergio Leone’s The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (1966) – but without this great, long pay off in the final act, the film wouldn’t be as good as it is. Plus, it’s a good looking film, with Fuqua knowing how to make that time period of America look beautiful but also brutal and harsh at the same time.

Sadly, the film is let down by an uneven pace where too much time is spent in getting the protagonists together. The story doesn’t really pick up or get exciting until they make it to the town. Ironically, it also feels rushed and forced in how some of these characters come together to the extent that you don’t really know what’s happening or why certain people have joined this team. It feels like Fuqua is more interested in the end goal and making sure the characters are where they need to be, in sacrifice of a cohesive narrative.

‘The Magnificent Seven, despite the fact it’s a an unoriginal remake of an already existing classic, and suffers from some poor and lazy writing, is a good film on its own.’

With some great leads, a well-executed final with enough differences from the original to justify its existence. It’s certainly a fun popcorn movie with plenty to enjoy.