In this take, the villain is Bartholomew Bogue (Peter Sarsgaard), who wants to take over the town of Rose Creek and has his army of underlings gun down men and women alike to prove he’s serious.
Advertisement
The Magnificent Seven, which also stars Ethan Hawke, Chris Pratt, Peter Sarsgaard, and Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, hits theaters September 23. However, by bringing a good tempo and a flawless dose of humour, The Magnificent Seven will keep you present without a shadow of a doubt. The original is thought of, in some circles, as kind of the final entry in the more “blue sky”, Hollywood westerns before the arrival of the grittier and graphically violent Spaghettis. The film got positive reviews, but it is true that it will attract the older audiences easily who can get the feel of that era at its background and essence of the movie that represents the classic rustic culture, that the younger generation may lack. Then there’s Josh Farraday (Chris Pratt), a likeable gambler who enjoys blowing stuff up, Goodnight Robicheaux (Ethan Hawke), sharpshooter extraordinaire and expert tracker Jack Horne (Vincent D’Onofrio). Following up on Guardians of the Galaxy and Jurassic World. Haley Bennett, whose character reminded me of Mamta Kulkarni in China Gate (minus the romantic subplot), is also a confident performer.
Total price tag of this Western was about $90 million, and director Antoine Fuqua launched another very successful film in cooperation with Denzel Washington.
Fuqua was once a director whose career I was excited to see grow. Technically, the frames created by Mauro Fiore is gorgeous to look at, while the BG score, partly composed by late Academy award victor James Horner, is apt. The 1960 film lacked the depth and emotional turmoil the Japanese film had.
Chris Pratt’s Faraday is the affable jokester in the group modeled after Steve McQueen’s character Vin in the original film. Sam Chisolm is a lot like Robert McCall, his character in Fuqua’s version of “The Equalizer”. He was one of the most incredible people I have ever met. Blame that on the lack of scenes given to the actor. After Bogue kills her husband and a few other villagers who oppose him, Emma Cullen and other desperate residents turn to bounty hunter Sam Chisolm for help. While you may wish Fuqua had been more decisive when it comes to balancing the film’s grit and humor – though which direction you wish he landed in will depend on the person – the result is a solid argument that the Western genre shouldn’t stay completely dead. Can Antoine Fuqua’s new movie stack up?
Advertisement
If I had to chose favourites, I would actually go for Rajkumar Santoshi’s underrated China Gate, over both The Magnificent Seven films. Hawke is captivating as the Southern Civil War vet (nicknamed the Angel of Death) whose struggle with fear and doubt get the better of him. “Training Day”, while never exactly groundbreaking, is one of my favorite crime-thrillers of recent years, a tightly contained film with a ferocious Oscar-winning performance by Denzel Washington.
