Review of The Magnificent Seven (2016) by Spencer K — 05 Oct 2016

"I seek righteousness. But I'll take revenge.".

While it may not be as magnificent as the seven starring members of the group, it's still a damn fun and an extremely entertaining western/action film. This is all largely due in respect to its fantastic cast. Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke, Chris Pratt, Vincent D'onofrio and others all bring their A game and they all kill it. It looks like the cast is having so much filming this movie, and it seemed to rub off on me, because I had a great time watching the movie. It's story may be nothing very new, and it has its usual western movie cliches, but it sets up all of these characters so well, and actually develops them enough that I cared for them. Antoine Fuqua knows how to direct action and that's no difference here, because the action is swift, sleek, and exciting. It's a testosterone fueled shoot-em up and the final 30 minutes are a real spectacle of pure action and gunplay. The script is well written and there are some surprising really funny lines. I laughed more than I expected to. It doesn't try to be anything that it knows it isn't and it succeeds as a damn entertaining and fun western. As a remake, it's actually a quite good one. In a season full of blockbuster disappointments, The Magnificent Seven busts out of the gate as one of the better surprises of late.