The Magnificent Seven (2016): What I liked

Denzel continues to Equalize & Chris Pratt talks... A LOT!

The Magnificent Seven (2016) is "The Guardians of the Galaxy" as a western. It's an easy comparison since both movies are about an ragtag band of "heroes" working together to stop the villain. And they both prominently feature Chris Pratt. At least this time Pratt isn't challenging the bad guy to a dance-off with the fate of everything in the balance. Thank goodness!

I enjoyed this movie a whole lot and was completely engaged throughout. What I REALLY liked about this film were the characters. Those Seven Samurai, erm, gunslingers defined the flick.

My hat’s off to Vincent D’Onofrio. I know what you’re thinking, “What about Denzel? What about Chris Pratt?”

Seriously, stahp it!

Exactly, what about them? Stop sharpening your pitchfork a minute.

Drink anyone?

Chris Pratt is the new hotness. Guardian of the Galaxy, Jurassic World, the guy’s blazing. But I’d argue that Pratt’s Josh Faraday in this film can only be distinguished from Peter Quill by the staggering amount of alcohol guzzled by Faraday. Also, the face mask. There is that.

He’s the same roguishly, yet oddly principled, light-fingered, fast-talker.

I'm looking at you Training Day.

Denzel is, well... Denzel. He's made a such a successful career from playing the good guy, it's hard to image him as anything else. Ironic that Washington won his Oscar for playing an unrepentant crooked cop in his first collaboration with Antoine Fuqua.

In The Magnificent Seven he's again the good guy (Sam Chisolm) who isn't afraid to talk first, but is capable of dispensing head-spinningly rapid violence that earns him at least a grudging respect (and no little fear) that his race wouldn't in a Western setting. Denzel's character might be on the side of the angels but he's driven, tormented even, by darker impulses. By the end of the movie his decision to undertake a quest from a widow who says, "I seek righteousness. But I'll take revenge." makes a lot more sense.

Denzel and the Marvel Cinematic Universe's (MCU) Third Chris were given the roles you’d expect. And they portrayed them just as well as expected.

A blind man beats you and you really let yourself go.

But D’Onofrio took his grizzled, loner, Indian-scalping mountain-man character (Jack Horne) some place different. Some place that, for me, allowed his performance to genuinely standout in a remake fronted by Washington and Pratt.

D’Onofrio brings the unexpected with the subtlety and nuance that continues to surprise and delight me.

The only one in her town with the balls.

In this male-dominated action/Western, it might be easy to overlook the female lead, Emma Cullen, as portrayed by Hayley Bennett. Bennett’s character is interesting because she is unforgettably feminine without being a useless damsel-in-distress. She’s like a lotus flower sculpted of sterner materials. Capable, without being a Mary Sue.

All in all, The Magnificent Seven (2016) is an entertaining spot of recycling that adds a dab of modern gloss to some of the better Western tropes, and largely succeeds on the backs of its eclectic band of characters, while honoring the spirit of Akira Kurosawa’s original. The Magnificent Seven (2016) is directed by Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, Shooter, The Equalizer, Olympus has Fallen) and stars Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D'onofrio, and Hayley Bennett.