"THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN" (2016) Review

"THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN" (2016) Review

When I first learned that there was to be another remake of the 1954 movie, "SEVEN SAMAURAI", I nearly groaned with displeasure. Worse, the movie would not only be a remake of the Japanese film, but an even closer remake of the 1960 film that had re-staged the story as a Western. I have always been leery of remakes, even if some proved to be pretty damn good. But I was more than leery of this particular film. 

The reason behind my leeriness is that I am not a fan of the 1960 film. I tried to be. Honest I did. But there was something about it - the performances of the lead, if I must be honest - that I found somewhat off putting. I also feared that I would face the same in this latest adaptation, but with even less success.

"THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN" - or this version - begins in 1879 when a corrupt industrialist named Bartholomew Bogue and his men besiege the mining town of Rose Creek, California and slaughters a group of locals led by Matthew Cullen, when they attempt to stand up to him and his attempt to coerce them into selling their land to him. Matthew's wife, Emma Cullen, and her friend Teddy Q ride to the nearest town in search of someone who can help them. They come upon Union Army veteran and warrant officer Sam Chisholm, who initially declines their proposal, until he learns of Bogue's involvement. Chisholm sets out to recruit a group of gunslingers who can help him battle the powerful businessman:

*Joshua Faraday - a gambler and explosives man who takes on the job to rid himself of debt

*Goodnight Robicheaux - a Confederate veteran and sharpshooter who is haunted by his past

*Billy Rocks - an East Asian immigrant assassin with a talent for knives and Goodnight's close companion

*Vasquez - a Mexican outlaw who is also a wanted fugitive

*Jack Horne, a religious mountain man/tracker

*Red Harvest - an exiled Comanche warrior and youngest of the group

Chisholm and his colleagues manage to rid Rose Creek of Bogue's men. But knowing that the businessman would be determine to strike back with a bigger force, the seven riders set out to prepare the town's citizens for what might prove to be an ugly, minor war.

I never really had any intention of seeing this new "THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN" in the movie theaters, considering my views of the 1960 film. But a relative of mine convinced me to give it a chance. And I did. There were some aspects of the movie that I found questionable. Well . . . two, if I must be honest. I wonder why screenwriters Nic Pizzolatto and Richard Wenk had portrayed the Red Harvest character as a Comanche. The latter lived along the Southern Plains that stretched between Nebraska and Northern Texas. Why not portray Red Harvest from a region a bit closer to the movie's setting - like the Paitue, the Ute or the Pomo? I also had a problem with some of Merissa Lombardo's costume designs. Some . . . not all of them. I found her costumes for the main male characters to be spot on. Lombardo's costumes for each male character not only clicked with the time period - late 1870s - but also with each character. But her costumes for the Emma Cullen character, proved to be a problem for me. They struck me as unnecessarily revealing for the wife-later-widow of a respected man from the late 19th century. Emma Cullen is not a 19th century prostitute. Why on earth did Lombardo come close to dressing her as one, as shown in the images below?

  

Despite these quibbles, I enjoyed "THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN". Very much. The movie was not an exact replica of "SEVEN SAMURAI" or the 1960 film, "THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN". And that is a good thing. I would have preferred to watch director Antoine Fuqua's personal version, instead of a carbon copy of either the original 1954 film or the 1960 Western. More importantly, I simply preferred his version over the other two films. Yes, I have seen both the 1954 and 1960 films. I am certain that many film goers and critics loved them. Unfortunately, my memories of the 1954 film is vague and I am simply not a fan of the 1960 remake. Fuqua and screenwriters Pizzolatto and Wenk managed to maintain my interest in the story, thanks to the former's energetic direction and a screenplay that struck me as well paced. I noticed that this version did not include the seven gunmen being chased out of town by the villain before returning for a final showdown. Instead, Pizzolatto and Wenk further explored the seven protagonists' efforts to help Rose Creek's citizens prepare for Bogue's retaliation. 

The movie also featured some outstanding action sequences, thanks to Fuqua's tight direction. Considering his past work in movies like "TRAINING DAY", "SHOOTER" and "OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN", I should not be surprised. There were a few actions sequences that I had enjoyed, including Rose Creek citizens' tragic encounter with Bartholomew Bogue's men, which set off the plot; Sam Chisholm's brief, yet violent encounter with a handful of fugitives early in the movie; and the seven mercenaries' first conflict with some of Bogue's men. But for me, the movie's pièce de résistance proved to be the final battle in Rose Creek. It was well shot action sequence as far as I am concerned. What am I saying? Well shot? Hell, I found it exciting, tense, tragic, euphoric and . . . yes, well shot. I found it very impressive and dramatically satisfying.

When I learned that the movie was shot in both Arizona and New Mexico, I was not surprised. It seemed apparent to me that a good deal of "THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN" was shot in both the northern and central regions of both states. What took me by surprise was the fact that the movie was also shot in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. When? Which scenes were shot in Baton Rouge? For the likes of me, I just do not know. Which only tells me that production designer Derek R. Hill really did his job of converting the Baton Rouge location to 19th century California. I also felt that Mauro Fiore's cinematography gave support to Hill's work and made the film look sharp and very colorful.

Now some are probably wondering how can I like this movie so much, yet harbor such lukewarm feelings toward the 1960 version. For me, the huge difference between the two movies proved to be the cast. Yes, I am aware that the 1960 version featured the likes of Yul Brenner, Steve McQueen and others who were just becoming famous. But the main reason why I always had a problem with this version is that most of the leads - with the exception of one or two - spent most of the film standing around or posing, trying to look "cool" or "iconic". I found myself wondering if most of them were preparing for an audition for the role of James Bond. I found this most annoying. Thankfully, the cast of this version came off as a lot more earthy. Natural. Instead of "icons of cool", the leads seemed more human.

The one actor whose performance seemed to closely resemble those from the 1960 cast was Denzel Washington, who portrayed the lead, Sam Chisholm. I suppose it would be natural, considering that he was not only the lead, but the oldest in the bunch. But even Washington's performance had a paternal air that I never saw in Yul Brenner's performance. More importantly, his character's arc had a major twist that I should have seen coming after he was first introduced. Chris Pratt portrayed the group's trickster - a gambler/womanizer named Josh Farady. I must admit that when I first learned that Pratt would be in this film, I just could not imagine it. Not by a long shot. But it did not take long for me to not only accept Pratt's presence in the film, but end up being very impressed by the way he mixed both comedy and drama in his performance. Ethan Hawke also combined both comedy and drama in his portrayal of former Confederate sharpshooter, Goodnight Robicheaux. But his character had a bit more pathos, due to being haunted by his experiences during the Civil War. And this gave Hawke the opportunity to give one of the movie's best performances.

Vincent D'Onofrio gave a very colorful and entertaining performance as the former religious trapper Jack Horne, who interestingly enough, was the only one of the seven men who came close to having a love interest. I was very impressed Lee Byung-hun's sardonic portrayal of Robicheaux's companion, the knife-throwing Billy Rocks. After seeing Haley Bennett's intense portrayal of the revenge seeking widow, Emma Cullen, I could see why the actress has been recently making a name for herself with critics. Manuel Garcia-Rulfo proved to be just as colorful and entertaining as D'Onofrio as the wanted outlaw, Vasquez. Martin Sensmeier gave an intense, yet cool performance as the group's youngest member, a Comanche warrior named Red Harvest. Matt Bomer gave a solid performance in the film's first fifteen minutes or so as Rose Creek citizen, Matthew Cullen, whose death helped set the plot in motion. And the role of Bartholomew Bogue (my God, that name!) became another of Peter Sarsgaard's gallery of interesting characters. Mind you, his intense portrayal of the villainous businessman was not as humorous as Eli Wallach's more witty villain from the 1960 film, but it was a lot more off-kilter and just as interesting.

Despite one or two quibbles, I enjoyed "THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN" very much. As I have stated earlier, I found this surprising considering my lukewarm opinion of the 1960 predecessor. Director Antoine Fuqua did a great job of creating his own adaptation of the 1954 movie, "SEVEN SAMAURAI". And he had ample support from an entertaining screenplay written by Nic Pizzolatto and Richard Wenk, along with an excellent cast led by Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt and Ethan Hawke.