MICHAEL LOMAX: Not a magnificent remake of ‘The Magnificent Seven’
FILM REVIEW: New film adds nothing to the original Western, itself a remake
By Michael Lomax
The original “Magnificent Seven” is memorable for two reasons: its all-star cast and heroic story about reluctant do-gooders who save a village from bandits. But what people often forget is that “Magnificent” was an American remake of the Japanese film “Seven Samurai.”
And why do people forget that? Because 1960’s “The Magnificent Seven” ain’t bad. Not so much the 2016 version.
Director Antoine Fuqua follows pretty much the same formula as his predecessors. Bandits masquerading as industrialists waylay a relatively peaceful western settlement, and after meeting a sympathetic bounty hunter (Denzel Washington), the villagers decide to fight back with gunslingers of their own.
The seven men (highlighted in part by Ethan Hawke and Chris Pratt) are assembled shortly thereafter, and so the fighting starts.
On paper, this is a pretty hard story to mess up. It’s got it all: heroism, sacrifice, a universal fight against tyranny and oppression, and the image of the lonely western cowboy come again.
In other words, I’m actually surprised it took Hollywood almost 60 years to remake “Magnificent,” and in all honesty the redo really isn’t bad. Denzel makes a decent cowboy, and the rest of the cast keeps up surprisingly well. The dialogue is fine too, as are the plot and cinematography.
Instead the problem is that the 2016 update adds almost nothing to the 1960 version except modern day cameras.
Unless you go for a complete, dramatic overhaul, remaking an iconic movie is pointless, and unfortunately, Fuqua’s take just isn’t bold or slick enough to even come close to escaping the shadow of its source material, which is itself a shell of the Japanese original.
So today’s “Magnificent Seven” presents an interesting situation. It’s a remake of a remake. The first remake was good. The second one, not really. So I guess the lesson is that remakes — and for that matter sequels, prequels, reboots, and the like — can be good if they’re done right.
And how do you know if they’re done right? I suppose you just know it when you see it.
Michael Lomax is a writer-filmmaker currently at work on a film script to be set and shot in Albany.
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