Released on Sept. 23, Antoine Fuqua’s “The Magnificent Seven” is an excellent retelling of a story about revenge and self-preservation in the wild west.
Set in the late 1800s, the small town of Rose Creek has been taken over by industrialist Bartholomew Bogue (Peter Sarsgaard) and his army of hired goons.
He wants to take the town and turn it into a mining facility, which the settlers that live there refuse to agree to.
Things get violent, and the people of Rose Creek are given an ultimatum: three weeks to name their price or leave, or they’ll be forcibly removed.
Warrant officer Sam Chisolm (Denzel Washington) is hired to deal with Bogue.
He gathers his own team of seven other men to go up against Bogue’s army.
In the final act of the film, Chisolm and his group, played by Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D’Onofrio, Byung-hun Lee, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, and Martin Sensmeier (all of whom gave awesome performances) train the townsfolk who stayed in order to even their odds against Bogue’s men.
The strongest thing the film had going for it was the relationship between the magnificent seven themselves.
They were all strangers, save for Chisolm and Goodnight Robicheaux (Hawke), and none of them truly got along that well.
But the dialogue between them, and the character growth each of them face really sees them become more like brothers rather than hired arms working together.
Apart from the character design and performances by the actors, the movie was made even better by its beautiful soundtrack and classical camera work.
“The Magnificent Seven” truly feels like a classic Hollywood Western made in modern day.
Even with the camera work and effects, the illusion of the wild west is never broken.
Altogether a magnificent movie for all!
