In the context of the re-creation of classic movies, it's hard for me to resist the temptation not to compare with the original version. Moreover, The Magnificent Seven has two references that both have a classic status. The film is a remake of the same movie John Sturges' own work which is also a remake of his Seven Samurai Akira Kurosawa. If judged by the end product that has a different vision of the two films, I assume director Antoine Fuqua not to bother with the source material.
Which means it is counterproductive from Fuqua's initial intentions. In an interview, Fuqua mentioned that he would be "faithful to the DNA of the Seven Samurai". With all the epic sword and chaos contests, Seven Samurai is about moral responsibility and has a deep social theme, rather than violence and action. Meanwhile, The Magnificent Seven Sturges version was criticized for being too full of action. Well, Fuqua takes this version to the next level. Although built on the same foundation, The Magnificent Seven is nothing more than a spectacular (action-oriented) action-oriented light entertainment. Prepare, shoot, and pew pew pew!
There were shootings, stabbings, stabbings, explosions and all sorts of other life-destroying scenes involving pistols, machetes, knives, arrows and dynamite. All pretty intense and unique, the film is given a rating of 13+ which means it can be watched by students of class VII. Could this be the consumption of today's teenagers? Given his action-packed story, may I call The Magnificent Seven a "Western Blockbuster"?
The script written by Nic Pizzolatto (serial True Detective) and Richard Wenk made some adjustments. The most obvious, of course, the name of a cooler character. Besides, the villain is no longer a Mexican bandit but a white capitalist named Bartholomew Bogue (a cool name right?) Played by Peter Saarsgard. Our main character is not a Cajun (formerly played by Yul Brynner) but replaced with a black man in the Denzel Washington figure.
The film also no longer takes place in the Mexican village but a village called Rose Creek that will be colonized by Bogue to be mined and taken gold. Bogue is a cruel man and not just because of his suspicious curved mustache. He deliberately lets people gather in church, rushes with armed men, offers an offer that people can not resist, shoot at the opponents and set fire to the church.
A young, victimized widow, Emma (Haley Bennett) asks for help from Sam Chisolm (Washington), a black hunter who is so skillful with his pistol that he can shoot 3 people at once in a few seconds without slipping. Chisolm initially hesitated, but he finally accepted, albeit with little pay. "Nobody paid me with everything they had," Chisolm said.
For this mission, he then gathers a crew consisting of: (1) himself; (2) drunks who are not only good at shooting and laughing but also magic, Josh Faraday (Chris Pratt); (3) a sniper with a very classy name, Goodnight Robicheaux (Ethan Hawke) along with his (4) advanced skilled knife, Billy Rocks (Byung-hun Lee); (5) Mexican fugitives, Vasquez (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo); (6) eccentric mountain man, Jack Horne (Vincent D'Onofrio); and lastly (7) indian youth with a stylish face paint, Red Harvest (Martin Sensmeier).
The plot of the classic version is quite simple where the seven people are helping the villagers against the tyrants. This new version has a much simpler plot. Its antagonistic motives are degraded into pure colonialism. There was no gap in defeat as Brynner et al was stripped and beaten back out of the village. For me, the classic movie is not extraordinary (not as seventh as Seven Samurai), but it makes us care about the fate of the characters and the villagers. There are moments where our heroes interact and connect with the villagers. The new version only does it at a glance, as if it were just plotting the plot points.
No time is more appropriate to raise the issue of diversification than at present. A fascinating touch by putting Bennett's character under the spotlight next to seven whizs with different ethnicities. Although told has a unique background and supported by the solid appearance of the players, the characterization of each character is not dug further. As an old colleague of Chisolm, Robicheaux seems to have a fairly complex inner conflict, but only discussed in 2 scenes. Some characters get fewer portions than others.
Nearly half of the end of the film is an endless bombastic shootout. And wow, really I admire Fuqua's skill in guiding the action sequences that are impressive and explosive (pun intended). Highlights of the coolest cameras highlight the beautiful landscape. There is a scene where the Chisolm character shoots while spurring his horse at a high speed where he relies only on one leg. Our other champion is also very good. The enemy (whose number I assume hundreds) falls like a toy. At this point, I think it's natural that we lose the sense of geography among the whistles of bullets, horse races and dynamite explosions.
Like most light blockbuster movies, nothing really impresses or evocates from The Magnificent Seven. One-liners that are sporadic enough thrown, sometimes seem crisp. But the film is enough to attract the attention of the audience thanks to the charisma of the players as well as the competence of directing action sequences from Fuqua. Could this movie be a classic? If this is the case, I doubt it.
Note: For those waiting for Elmer Bernstein's iconic theme song, you'll get it when the movie ends.