Review #1,143: 'The Magnificent Seven' (2016)

Movie fans were predictably up in arms when the announcement was made that John Sturges' beloved 1960 action western The Magnificent Seven was to be remade by Antoine Fuqua, a director who has arguably only made one decent film in his career. Familiar claims of Hollywood running out of ideas and calls for the 'classics' to be left well and truly alone echoed across internet message boards, despite remakes having existed since cinema began and the fact that Sturges' film was itself a remake of Akira Kurosawa's samurai masterpiece Yojimbo (1961). The resulting movie is a perfectly enjoyable and action-packed couple of hours, although ironically lacking in magnificence. The Adequate Seven would have been a more appropriate, albeit less catchy, title.

Fuqua's film treads much of the same ground as Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughan et al did fifty-odd years ago. Denzel Washington takes on the role Brynner previously embodied, and he strikes a cool and formidable figure as Chisolm, despite sticking out like a sore thumb in the post-Civil War Wild West (although nobody brings it up). He is approached by the beautiful widower Emma Cullen (Haley Bennett) to help save her town from feudal landowner Bartholomew Bogue (Peter Sarsgaard) and his small army of enforcers, who have just murdered Emma's husband. Either for the bag of gold on offer or just for the sake of doing the right thing, Chisolm agrees to take the job, and begins recruiting his own gang of former acquaintances, lovable rogues and dangerous outlaws.

Hollywood finally seems to be catching up with the ethnic diversity so prominent in the U.S., and The Magnificent Seven reflects this wonderfully. As well as casting a black lead relatively unheard of in the genre, Chisolm rounds up Mexican Vasquez (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), Korean knife-expert Billy Rocks (Byung-hun Lee) and, after befriending him by eating the heart of slain beast, also brings in Native American Red Harvest (Martin Sensmeier). Making up the rest of the group are Josh Faraday (Chris Pratt doing his best impression of Star Lord), a cocky gambler with the gift of the quick draw; Goodnight Robicheaux (Ethan Hawke), an alcoholic former soldier with a shaky hand and shakier nerves; and Jack Horne (Vincent D'Onofrio), the hulking, grey-haired, God-fearing frontiersman who is given the role of comic relief.

For most of its 2 hour 13 minute running time, The Magnificent Seven struggles to decide what kind of film it wants to be. On one hand, it's a western in the classic mould, all thigh-slapping and talkin' tough. Yet with the many over-the-top set-pieces on show, it also seems to have aspirations to be a shut-down-your-brain blockbuster, even pitting Red Harvest one-on-one against the bad guys' Native American in what is the movie's most ridiculous scene. It also hints at deeper ideas, and touches on themes of race with the lightest of brushes, just enough to make you ponder how good this film really could have been given the cast at the director's disposal. If it's an entertaining slice of action complete with strong performances across the board, then this certainly delivers. However, if you're looking for an absorbing genre piece and one that justifies its own existence, then you may become frustrated with Sargaard's sleepy-eyed scenery chewing. Insert pun on title here.

Directed by: Antoine Fuqua
Starring: Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Haley Bennett, Vincent D'Onofrio, Byung-hun Lee, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Martin Sensmeier, Peter Sarsgaard
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #447: 'I Saw the Devil' (2010)

Continuing in a wave of ultra-violent revenge films from South Korea, - crystallised in Chan-wook Park's excellent Vengeance Trilogy (Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002), Oldboy (2003) and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (2005)) - I Saw the Devil takes the genre into brutal, kinetic, and near-to-the-knuckle gornography. Oldboy's Min-sik Choi plays a serial killer, Kyung-chul, who kills Joo-yeon (San-ha Oh) in her car in the opening of the film. She is the girlfriend of secret agent Kim Soo-hyeon (Byung-hun Lee), who then embarks on a no-holds-barred mission to find and kill the man who killed her.

It's your standard revenge film, filled with over the top grand guignol-like moments of gore, as heads are particularly targeted for tense battering, aided by the frenzied camera. But what makes these moments far more ferocious is the fact that between these contained flourishes of violence are connected with the more serene, delicate moments - it can become jarring. However, the use of this technique is an easy trick, and this is the issue with most films by Jee-woon Kim. Kim has that post-MTV generation paradox, - with its influence of short cuts fast camera movements, and stylisation - the content is largely left behind in favour of style. Since the 1980's, a film's look has often been more important than a message, or at least string narrative cinema.

The fact that Kim, and writer Hoon-jung Park have imbued the film with it's knowledge of the serial killer movie into the revenge film is a nice touch, but it is still thematically no different than any other revenge film. In bold strokes, I Saw the Devil, simplistically relates to the themes of the duality of mankind, as the agent digs deeper into an encompassing psychology of hatred, effecting all around him. To catch the killer, Kim Soo-hyeon has to become the killer, bringing him to the same level of depravity. It's a very stylish film, and the filmic touches are often stunning. However, with a rather long running time for this type of film, it does become increasingly nasty, and the beating, stabbings, and torture almost become the entire film, missing an opportunity to explore in an interesting and complex duality of the lead killer/agent.


Directed by: Jee-Woon Kim
Starring: Byung-Hun Lee, Min-Sik Choi, San-Ha Oh
Country: South Korea

Rating: ***

Marc Ivamy