What is it about?
Directed by Antoine Fuqua, The Magnificent Seven is a remake of the 1960 film The Magnificent Seven, which is also a remake of the 1954 classic Japanese action film Seven Samurai. It’s set in the town Rose Creek in 1879, where industrialist Bartholomew Bogue (played by Peter Sarsgaard) is taking over the town, and forcing people to abandon it, so he can mine it for gold. Rose Creek resident Emma Cullen (Haley Bennett), whose husband was killed by Bogue hires bounty hunter Sam Chisolm (portrayed by Denzel Washington) to fight off Bogue and reclaim their land. Chisolm recruits a team of seven, including gambler Josh Farraday (played by Chris Pratt), Confederate sharpshooter Goodnight Robicheaux (played excellently by Ethan Hawke), knife-wielding assasin Billy Rocks (Byung-hun Lee), expert tracker Jack Horne (played by Vincent D’onofrio), outlaw Vasquez (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), and Comanche warrior Red Harvest (Martin Sensmeier). And so the seven try to stop Bogue and reclaim Rose Creek.

How is it? 7.5/10                                                                                                                    The Magnificent Seven is an entertaining, fun Western that has a great cast, great characters, and thrilling action. The movie also has a great score throughout that helps with the tone of the movie. Another plus is its scenery: a couple shots of the CGI mountains are quite nice to look at. Where the movie does encounter problems is in its pacing and length. For starters. the movie begins slow. There’s nothing wrong with its intense beginning that introduces us to Bogue, it’s just that it takes too long to get to its main characters. Also, it waits until the end for the action, and spends too much time preparing for the fight instead of just getting to it. Now to the length. The movie stands at a lengthy 2 hours and 13 minutes. The movie wastes some time at the beginning, and as I’ve mentioned, preparing for the final fight. It could’ve been much more concise, and would’ve felt more action packed if it had done that.

How are the acting, characters, and chemistry? 8.4/10
One great aspect of this movie is its acting. Denzel Washington was one of its biggest standouts. His portrayal of Chisolm is very realistic and really brings the character to life. Chris Pratt is also awesome. He brings no shortage of humor, and acts pretty well as the tricky gambler. Also, Ethan Hawke acts great as a Confederate sharpshooter haunted by the lives he took. His character has a satisfying arc and definitely, along with everyone else, kicks butt in that finale. The cast’s interactions are also top notch, and makes the film more entertaining. The characters are all very interesting, and have great development throughout, except for a couple ones that are actually underdeveloped. Haley Bennet is great as Emma Cullen, who is also a very strong, well-executed character. Finally, they did a good job making the villain menacing, and although he isn’t present for the middle chunk of the movie, when he shows up, it pays off, not to mention that he was quite well-acted.

How is the action and humor? 8/10                                                                               The action in The Magnificent Seven may not be present for a large amount of time, but when it comes, believe me, it delivers. The last two fights of the movie are breathtaking, and so entertaining. The choreography of the action is also great, and while it may seem a little busy at times, it’s still super fun to watch. Finally, the movie actually has quite a bit of humor. Chris Pratt brings quite a bit of it, but each member of the cast has their comedic moment. This does its job of lightening the tone of the movie when it needs to, and also adds to the sheer fun of the movie.

In conclusion, The Magnificent Seven is a great Western that may have its pacing and length problems, but delivers on the action, humor, and acting fronts.