What’s in a remake? It seems like the year of rebirths, reboots or rehashes. Take the original 1960’s ‘The Magnificent Seven’ by the legendary John Sturges which you’d think shouldn’t be touched. The film was described as being “culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant”. In 2013, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. Now, a motion picture that earns this merit should be left alone. Except the 1960’s version is a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s 1954 Seven Samurai, another excellent picture by itself which borrows the stories and transposes it from Japan to Mexico and the rest of the story essentially remains the same.
Which brings us back to 2016, with a similar premise and all-star cast with Chris Pratt, Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke that now drives ‘The Magnificent Seven’ helmed by Training Day’s, Antoine Fuqua. What do I think of an epic western that’s flavored for today’s audience? Well it’s not as magnificent you would think. The 1960’s were a time where premises like this worked. Come 2016, that idea is no longer fresh. 50 years on, we’ve seen similar instances with the same formula, a group of misfits band together and sort their differences for the greater good. It would be impossible to not be reminded Guardians of the Galaxy. Especially when you have Chris Pratt play wisecracking explosives expert Josh Faraday who’s so comfortable in this role, you’d think he does this in his sleep.
The 2016 remake isn’t bad, Fuqua and writers Richard Wenk and Nic Pizzolatto did however produce something that’s something more on the lines of “The Moderate Seven”
The plot here is set in and around the small frontier town Rose Creek in 1879, which open’s with Peter Saarsgard’s industrialist criminal baron Bartholomew Bogue staging a takeover for the residents’ land. He’s bought over the law, has hundreds of men at his disposal and he wants his gold, badly and has given the town less than a month to clear out. Emma Cullen (the stunning Haley Bennett) and other desperate residents turn to hire warrant officer Chisolm (Denzel Washington) for help.
Chisolm builds a part of an eclectic and diverse group of rag tags to take on Bogue with the promise of money, along with Joshua Faraday, the group sees themselves with outlaw Vasquez (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), Confederate sharpshooter Goodnight Robicheaux (Ethan Hawke), scalp-hunter Jack Horne (Vincent D’Onofrio), assassin Billy Rocks (Byung-hun Lee) and Comanche warrior Red Harvest (Martin Sensmeier). It quickly becomes apparent though they realize they might not see this through alive and desperately train the town to deal with a shootout.
Needless to say, the Magnificent Seven is explosive. Denzel proves that if he’s dressed like a reaper in a cowboy suit and a black stallion, you can be sure, he’s pretty much a bad-ass in this film much so he owns it. While not fully explored, there’s an evident backstory that links Sam Chisolm and Bogue. Haley Bennett’s lines of “I seek righteousness but I’ll take revenge.” are just one of the few great lines you’ll hear in this film and these make the moments throughout.
And with a Mexican, Irishman, Native American and a Korean on the gang, there’s this political statement you can see being made, one that subtly points at Hollywood’s diversity and the character of the American gunslinger. The political references where statements capitalism and democracy are made by Saarsgard’s character, the statement is made in a church congregation which sees said church being burned in the process and the people who speak out against him ending up buried. A relevance to the America of old with something to keep it relevant to the America we know now.
The Magnificent Seven is visually well done and reminiscent of the western iconography. Standoffs, shootouts are all glorified with the haze of the frontier dust that kicks up when the town gets silenced over a group of men as they take out numbers far greater than their own with style, not just with guns, but with an arsenal of arrows, loads of dynamite and knives and a body count that would make The Terminator proud.
At the end of it though, it ultimately falls short of it being magnificent. Once the character development’s done, all that’s left is the big gun down which is what takes a great deal and it all ends in predictable fashion, not all of the seven make it through and there’s very little that’s done to create the impact of the loss. The original film highlighted this and was made at a time where there was an appeal for a story of honor and sacrifice of the great western era. It’s a gamble, to recapture the spirit which might find some audiences uninspired by it. It does seem that it tries too hard to emulate the original but even with a great cast and familiar plot, it’s not enough to light the fuse.
