Review of The Magnificent Seven (2016) by Travis E — 21 Nov 2016

This modern version of The Magnificent Seven tries to merge the original Magnificent Seven and Seven Samurai into one story. My lack of familiarity and history with those films makes me feel slightly less guilty about the fact that I like this version of the story best of all.

For one thing this film did a superb job of setting up all 7 of the main characters. I felt like I got to know every single one of them and understood their motivations and strengths. The humor didn't work all that well for me, which surprises me because I find Chris Pratt so funny, but at least it wasn't so bad I was cringing.

The cast of actors is top-notch and each of them delivered something special. There might have been a couple that I wished were featured more prominently, because their characters worked so well for me but I understand there was only so much screen-time to go around.

The entire third act is an elaborate fight scene that was captured extremely well. I always felt like I knew what was going on, where people were, and what they were trying to do, which is quite difficult in films with this many characters.

Easily the biggest shortcoming in the film was the conclusion. If done right it could have been emotionally devastating, but they didn't pull that off so I left the theater with dry eyes. However, I also left the theater with a smile on my face because this Magnificent Seven made for a fun two hours at the movies.