'Magnificent Seven' an entertaining retelling of iconic story - East Idaho News
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‘Magnificent Seven’ an entertaining retelling of iconic story

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It’s been said the a great story is one that can be told and retold.Judging by that metric, the story of the new “Magnificent Seven” remake must be one of the all-time great stories because it seems like it gets recycled every few years. From Akira Kurosawa’s magnum opus “Seven Samurai” to the 1960 Western version “Magnificent Seven” starring Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen to movies that have borrowed heavily from “Mag Seven,” like “A Bug’s Life,” this story gets passed from generation to generation like a piece of heirloom jewelry.

So is the new take on “Magnificent Seven,” starring Denzel Washington and Chris Pratt, a worthy addition to such a hallowed legacy of storytelling? Why, yes. It actually is.

“Mag Seven” 2016 opens in the community of Rose Creek, where settlers are being harassed and slaughtered by evil rich guy Bartholomew Bogue (Peter Sarsgaard). After Bogue kills her husband, Emma (Haley Bennett) decides to go hire some of her own muscle to hit back. She runs across Sam Chisolm (Washington) and convinces him to help.

Chisolm recruits a rag-tag band, including Joshua Faraday (Pratt) and Goodnight Robichaeux (Ethan Hawke) to come help out. The seven of them train up the citizens of Rose Creek and prep the town to kick Bogue and his army in the butt. As mentioned before, it’s a story that’s been told so many times, in so many movies and TV shows, that you’ve seen it even though you haven’t seen it.

Denzel Washington stars in “The Magnificent Seven." (Sam Emerson, Sony Pictures)
Denzel Washington stars in “The Magnificent Seven.” | Sam Emerson, Sony Pictures

This movie captures a lot of what makes great westerns so great. The epic landscape shots drop your jaw with their beauty and sheer scale. The heroes are larger than life, and they leave an impression on you even if they don’t have a lot to say. The violence is choreographed, almost like a ballet of bullets, dust and smoke. You not only get to see the heroes be heroic, but you also get to see the weak townspeople grow a backbone.

The fact that it’s a remake is almost unbelievable, since most remakes suck harder than the warped spacetime of a black hole.

Heading this all up is Antoine Fuqua (“Training Day”, “King Arthur”). Fuqua’s mission statement on this movie: keep the story moving as briskly as possible and make our heroes look cool. Several important elements from the 1960 movie have been dropped in order to make room for more time with the characters.

And the characters are people you want to spend time with. Chisolm is the quietly intense type. Washington plays that angle of the character up in his eyes. You can always tell by his eyes that there’s more going on in his head than he’s saying aloud. Clad all in black, a likely nod to Yul Brynner’s character, Washington glides through frame like some kind of Old West phantasm. It’s a lot of fun to watch.

Pratt is also great as Faraday, a motor-mouthed gambler who’s as deadly as he is funny.

Chris Pratt stars in “The Magnificent Seven." (Sam Emerson, Sony Pictures)
Chris Pratt stars in “The Magnificent Seven.” (Sam Emerson, Sony Pictures)

The most complex character is Robicheaux, a former sharpshooter who’s lost his nerve. Hawke portrays the vulnerability of this guy’s damaged psyche perfectly. Vincent D’onofrio’s vocal affectation as tracker Jack Horne got on my nerves, but he still has some great moments. The rest of the Seven don’t get as much of the focus. It’s a shame. I wanted to know more about them.

magnificent-seven-1
From left, Vincent D’Onofrio, Martin Sensmeier, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Ethan Hawke, Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt and Byung-hun Lee star in Columbia Pictures’ “The Magnificent Seven.” | Scott Garfield, Sony Pictures

The movie has a few other flaws. Sarsgaard is a great actor, so it’s disconcerting that his character and the main bad guy, Bogue, is so conventional and forgettable. Likewise, I was hoping for some of that classic Western flavor from the musical score. Instead I got a musical score that suffers from Modern Movie Score-itis. It’s very vanilla and doesn’t stand out. It pales in comparison to the fantastic music Elmer Bernstein came up with for the 1960 film.

Flaws aside, this “Magnificent Seven” is a very sturdy, enjoyable movie. The fact that it’s a remake is almost unbelievable, since most remakes suck harder than the warped spacetime of a black hole. Most importantly, this movie has the charismatic characters and visually epic feel of a classic Western. That’s worth the price of admission all on its own.

4 Indy Fedoras out of 5

MPAA Rating: PG-13

Thanks to Fat Cats in Rexburg for providing screenings for movie reviews on EastIdahoNews.com.

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