First Take: The Magnificent Seven- yet another average remake

SYPNOSIS:

Seven gun men in the old west gradually come together to help a poor village against savage thieves.

Hot off the heels of the Ben-Hur remake from a few weeks ago, another classic has been re-imagined for a more modern audience. The Magnificent Seven (itself a remake of Kurosawa’s industry-defining Seven Samurai) is the latest offering, and even with the excellent Antoine Fuqua at the helm, I had a few issues with this film.

One of the issues with this new version is the pacing- sure, 2 hours 13 minutes seems to be the right length for a Western like this, but it felt too dragged out, especially during the creation of the group itself, opting for a more relaxed approach in order to secure a 12a certificate. The script from Richard Wenk and Nic Pizzolatto has the flair of the genre, but again, has some glaring issues in terms of pacing. The performances are very varied, with Ethan Hawke and Chris Pratt putting in some good work, but unfortunately Denzel Washington isn’t up to his usual standard. However, there is a star-making performance from Haley Bennett, and I won’t be surprised if she becomes a name to look out for in 2017. The action is very well choreographed, with some absolutely first class cinematography, but the main highlight for me was hearing James Horner’s final film score blaring out of a surround sound system- the score makes the film feel like a traditional Western release, and that is always a good thing.

THE VERDICT

Even with a great cast and a director with a solid body of work, The Magnificent Seven just isn’t magnificent enough to resonate with modern audiences- the action may be very well staged, with some very luscious detail, but unfortunately it felt a little bit too dragged out for its own good.

RATING: 3/5