Review of The Magnificent Seven (2016) by Brett H — 20 Oct 2016

4/5 Stars. Great action movie with a few big names on the cast list and some people most won't know. Completely re-imagines the plot of the original movie; might as well be called something entirely different. Swaps out some of the White guys from the original for a Black, an Asian, and a Native dude, but this works quite well and doesn't feel forced (though the lack of people calling Denzel Washington "nigger" seems rather odd, given the time period). Washington is his usual badass self, with a backstory that only gets revealed in full at the very end. Chris Pratt was given a few dumb moments of comedy that fell flat for the most part, but his part at the end is fantastic. I felt that the Native guy and the Asian weren't given as much screentime as they should have, but they weren't screwed intentionally I don't think. Just a lack of seeing them gank some dudes with their badass skills. They also gave a woman a key role in the film; Haley Bennett does a great job defending her home and getting shit done. The only weak performance that comes to mind is Peter Sarsgaard as Bogue. I guess it's more realistic to not have everyone be a capable public speaker or intimidating presence, but for the main villain, he lacked a commanding nature for the most part.

Overall, a great action movie, good storyline, cool fight scenes, and a better plot than the original (which I looked up on Wikipedia, lol). Definitely worth a watch.