Les Sept Mercenaires

Most of the bad reviews are coze its been compared to the original one. But if u forget about it and lay back, its a good movie with great acting. My favorite is always Ethan Hawke. Of course whats missing is some really good music but hey, we heard worse, right

Finally another great western movie!

To be sure, all the western clichés are found in this movie; and I don't have a problem with that! One of the things I liked best about this western was the pacing, sometimes I find westerns to be a little too slow (for my personal taste - subjective, I know) but I felt this movie nailed it, even with a run time a little over 2 hours.

The action scenes are great, very well done. The casting and acting was great - Denzel does a great job as the leader of this rag tag group of guys. Pratt, of course, nails the comedic relief role.

The movie carried a surprising amount of "heart" throughout it all the way to the end.

Here is the bottom line: Yes, this movie is worth your hard earned money to go see in the theater.

My only critique is with the Emma character. She's supposedly a pioneering woman...tough no-nonsense. But her dress says otherwise. Off the shoulder, low cut? Not the reality of the day at that time. If y'all wanted sexy keep it authentic...not contrived out of Hollywood!

After I saw the trailer of the movie I was expecting a fun western with just good action and nice characters because the cast is great on paper, but then the question of course is if it also works for the movie. Well for me it worked. I just had a lot of fun with it.

I have to say that I haven't seen the original movies that this is a remake of so I didn't have that to compare it to, therefore if I compare it to something, I compare it to other movies I have seen.

Because the movie has a lot of things I have already seen in other movies (I won't say what because that may be considered spoiling the movie). Therefore the story isn't what makes this movie and if you're looking for a great story, the movie might not be for you.

What the movie does have first of all is a great cast that delivers. Denzel Washington gives the best performance of the movie by far but also Chris Pratt shows that Guardians wasn't a fluke, Hawke, D'Onofrio and just the entire cast works very well together for this nice team of 7 misfits that has to save the town.

Also the action is great, it's very true to the old westerns. There are some very tense stand-offs and when the shooting starts, the action is fantastically shot, directed and just well executed.

And the movie has a good sense of humor, there are good comedic moments that give good levity to the movie.

Because the movie actually is pretty towards an R-rated movie, it has some harsh and brutal things happening that might not be for kids. It's one of the most mature PG-13 movies I have seen.

All in all, the Magnificent Seven is a fun time in the theater, probably not as good as the original but better than most remakes these days (looking at you Ghostbusters) and I give it an 8.5/10

A remake of a great film that is a remake of an even greater film (Akira Kurosawa's 'Seven Samurai'), there are worse remakes out there than 2016's 'The Magnificent Seven'. Primarily 'Psycho', 'The Wicker Man', 'Rollerball', 'Ghostbusters' and 'Stepford Wives'.

'The Magnificent Seven' has its strengths but fails to live up to its title and one does question the point of it. It is well made visually, with an atmospherically gritty look and an evocative setting. Some of the action excites and the direction has a dark grit that is typical of Antoine Fuqua. While it is nowhere near as unforgettable or as iconic as one of film's all time great scores, James Horner's score here is demonstrative of what a great talent he was and how his tragic far too early death is still a sad loss.

Casting is very variable, some of the acting is very good, some of it doesn't work. The best performances come from Denzel Washington, charismatic as ever, Ethan Hawke excelling in an atypical role and Haley Bennett mixing toughness and vulnerability adeptly. The most interesting character relationship is between Washington and Hawke and gives the film the few glimpses of realism and substance. Lee Byung-hun is also good fun.

Others don't fare so well, not helped by that most of the characters are not that interesting and sketchily developed. Didn't think either Chris Pratt or Vincent D'Onofrio, both decent and more in other things, fitted particularly well, Pratt especially jarred and his humorous lines lack wit and don't gel. Faring the worst is Peter Sarsgaard, who just isn't sinister or intense enough, even in a severely underwritten role he looks like he's sleepwalking.

While there's a lot of blood and violence, there is little soul or heart underneath and some of it is gratuitous. The dialogue is awkward, particularly the humour which falls flat and often feels misplaced. The story suffers from an overlong length, a sluggish pace, a lack of tension or suspense and heavy-handed and pointless political elements. Won't carp about the political correctness like some have but it doesn't add anything. The illogical and anaemic ending underwhelms drastically as well.

In summary, has its strengths but not so magnificent and one does question the point of it. 5/10 Bethany Cox