The Magnificent Seven

This review may contain spoilers!

Despite it's slow pacing this film is going to be the best Western film of the year. I would give The Magnificent Seven a 7.5/10.

This is classic Western brought back to the big screen, despite any flaws you may find with the film it's impossible to argue that. What this story presents is seven very skilled people who all carry some dark imperfection, the act of saving the town at the end of the film seems to a baptism of redemption of sorts for each of them. The cinematography is truly superb, broad expanses are caught in a picturesque way and the shoot outs have clearly been carefully planned; just check out the scenes with the gatling gun or Denzel Washington shooting on his horse and you'll see what I mean. The editing is pretty good, it might not be the best I've seen this year but it certainly does the job and hits the right beats. The score is one of the major triumphs of the film, it's a perfect throwback to classic Western film scores and I'd go so far as to say it's one of the best scores I've listened to this year.

Denzel Washington, who played Chisolm, made for an incredible protagonist in this film; Washington has a resolute strength as the leader of the group and a dark edge that emerges in his final confrontation with Sarsgaard. Chris Pratt, who played Josh Faraday, is a character who's hard to like at times but begrudgingly grows on you as the film goes on; Pratt's natural ability with comedy makes his line delivery some of the best in the film. Byung-hun Lee, who played Billy Rocks, has a really intimidating physical presence throughout the film; he also has some great chemistry with Hawke which manifests itself in a sort of brotherly bond. Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, who played Vasquez, makes more of a likeable mark on you as the film progresses in a similar manner to Pratt; however I'd also say that I got a lot more entertainment out of Garcia-Rulfo's lines and found him to be a very enjoyable presence amongst the main cast. Martin Sensmeier, who played Red Harvest, had the opportunity to bring forward a really interesting and engaging Native American character and he nailed it; Sensmeier's role was interesting because this wasn't just a stereotypical performance but an interesting take upon a warrior and wandering tribesman. Haley Bennett, who played Emma Cullen, is a raging spirit of vengeance and pillar of strength in the film's narrative; Bennett's cold determination towards gaining justice for her husband's murder makes for one of the most interesting performances of the film. Peter Sarsgaard, who played Bartholomew Bogue, brings for a deplorable and vile antagonist for this feature; his sheer greed makes him extremely relevant and engaging to watch. Matt Bomer, who played Matthew Cullen, makes his mark by introducing the film really well; Bomer's stand for justice makes him immediately likeable so that when he's gunned down you're all the more committed to what unfolds. Mark Ashworth, who played Preacher, was a rather reserved yet passionate performance; Ashworth shares an incredibly poignant rooftop scene with Washington in what is one of my favourite moments in the film.

However the best performance came from Vincent D'Onofrio, who played Jack Horne. D'Onofrio plays this burly fighter who will charge directly into a phrase while murmuring or sometimes screaming biblical messages. The line delivery and accent D'Onofrio chooses is quite unique and makes him stand out from the rest of the cast. This is a character who is very detached from the rest of the group at first and he struggles to interact with other characters. However his progression to respecting the six men he fights with and dying helping an injured townsman really show the journey D'Onofrio takes this role upon.

What let this film down was slow pacing, the first two thirds is quite drawn out and would've benefited from tighter storytelling; the start especially takes too long to introduce Washington and Pratt in particular. I also found the relationships between the main cast could've been written a lot better when first we meet them; these are seven guys who don't necessarily share enough backstory, dislike one another or are out and out racists making the core cast extremely hard to empathise with.

Ethan Hawke, who played Goodnight Robicheaux, lacked thr gravitas and screen presence that the rest of the main cast had; frankly Hawke failed to deliver a character that you cared for or even really understood. Luke Grimes, who played Teddy Q, was a forgettable side piece to Bennett's role; the film's attempts to give him presence in scenes failed miserably. Dane Rhodes, who played Sheriff Harp, gave a rather stereotypical portrayal of this cowardly bought out lawman; I felt Rhodes presented a pretty lackluster minor antagonist. Walker Babington and Thomas Blake Jr, who played Dicky and Earl respectively, were really weak minor antagonists; this pair could've either been recurring minor antagonists or a strong introduction to Pratt's role but as they were neither the film failed this pair.