MOVIE REVIEW: THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN

In this remake of the classic 1960 oater of the same name (itself a Western remake of Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece, The Seven Samurai), seven gunslingers join forces in order to protect a small town from a mining tycoon (Peter Sarsgaard) and his goons, who plan to seize the residents' land by force. The seven-man army is led by a mysterious bounty hunter (Denzel Washington), and also includes a sharp-witted gambler (Chris Pratt), a troubled ex-Civil War soldier (Ethan Hawke), a mountain man (Vincent D'Onofrio), an expert knife thrower (Byung-hun Lee), an outlaw (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), and a Comanche warrior (Martin Sensmeier). Directed by Antoine Fuqua (Training Day). ~ Jack Rodgers, Rovi

Director: Antoine Fuqua

Cast: Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D'Onofrio, Lee Byung-hun

Release Date: Sep 23, 2016

Rated PG-13

Runtime: 2 hr. 12 min.

Genres: Action/Adventure

Review:

I’ll start by saying that I’ve never seen the original The Magnificent Seven film so I don’t have anything to compare it to.  The plot itself has been recycled multiple times so the story itself doesn’t hold much in the way of surprises.  Antoine Fuqua seems to know this so he tries his best to honor the classic westerns of yesteryear.  As such, you get plenty of scenic cinematography and high intensity shoot outs throughout.  Ultimately, the only way this film would maintain anyone’s interest would be because of the cast.  Denzel Washington holds the entire film together as the steely eyed bounty hunter.  The film is at it’s best during the first half as the team is assembled and we get a taste of each of the characters being assembled.  Some of which get more time than others but in the end you can tell the actors are just having a blast.  That keeps the film fun and interesting even as we start heading into very well worn territory in terms of story.  As such, The Magnificent Seven is an enjoyable bit of entertainment that could have used a tad bit more depth to make it truly standout.

B

Cindy Prascik's Review of The Magnificent Seven

Dearest Blog: Yesterday it was off to Marquee Cinemas for one of my more anticipated offerings of 2016, Antoine Fuqua's remake of The Magnificent Seven. Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing you wouldn't know from the trailers. 

When a brutal robber baron tries to steal a town right out from under its inhabitants, the townsfolk turn to an eclectic band of gunslingers to defeat him. So, dear reader(s), you're tired of remakes and reboots and rehashes, right? I hear ya. Hollywood apparently doesn't, but I do. Scarred though you may be by lady Ghostbusters and a decidedly Michael Bay-ish Ben-Hur, I'm asking you to give this one a chance. Please. 

Throwing the universe's most watchable actor, Denzel Washington, into an ensemble picture is a bit like putting a perfect diamond on a CZ-tennis bracelet--no matter how good the rest is, it won't compare--but he does a masterful job of leading this pack without actively scene-stealing. 

His diverse group of not-so-merry men is uniformly fantastic, with Byung-hun Lee and the brilliant Vincent D'Onofrio nearly walking off with the movie. Gunfights are tightly-choreographed chaos, a delight to watch. The picture also boasts some majestic scenery and a lovely score by Simon Franglen and the late James Horner. 

Throughout, it feels like a throwback to the glory days of Hollywood westerns. Among The Magnificent Seven's relatively few weaknesses: It relies just a little to heavily on Chris Pratt's appeal, while criminally wasting the lovely Matt Bomer. 

Haley Bennett overacts like a madwoman at times. There are some weirdly obvious inaccuracies, like blindingly-white teeth all 'round, and a few prominently-placed prostitutes who more closely resemble 1980s video extras than anything from the wild west. The entire cast is sweat-shiny for the duration...except Denzel, who is cool as a cucumber until the very end. 

Also, the movie is occasionally so very traditional as to appear almost comical on today's cinema landscape. This remake defies many current cinema norms. Though a battle is the picture's primary focus, there are no bloated, never-ending fight scenes. The pace is deliberate, but the movie is never dull. There's surprisingly little graphic gore, despite a Game of Thrones-esque body count. 

The single female lead provides opportunities aplenty, yet she's never shoehorned into a romance with any of our heroes. Finally, this film is utterly disinterested in kicking off a franchise. Come on, reader(s), when was the last time you walked out of the theatre without feeling like you'd just been set up for the next sequel? 

The Magnificent Seven is a beautifully-filmed, epic western that features top-notch performances from some of today's best and most-loved actors. Simply put, movies like this are why I go to the movies. 

Of a possible nine Weasleys, The Magnificent Seven gets eight. 

Until next time... 

MOVIE REVIEW: TERMINATOR GENISYS

The year is 2029. John Connor, leader of the resistance continues the war against the machines. At the L.A. offensive, John's fears of the unknown future begin to emerge when he learns that SkyNet will attack him from both fronts: past and future.

Director: Alan Taylor

Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Clarke, Jai Courtney, Dayo Okeniyi, Lee Byung-hun

Release Date: Jul 01, 2015 RealD 3D

Rated: PG-13 Gunplay Throughout, Brief Strong Language, Intense Sci-Fi Violence and Partial 

Nudity 

Runtime: 2 hr. 6 min. Genres: Action/Adventure, Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Review:

Proposed Preamble that might make Terminator Genisys more palpable:

Forget everything you know.  Sort of kind of I mean.  The first 2 movies were really good right but since most of you in the audience are millennials you all probably thought they were ok but looked old.  So we’ve just redone some of those sequences but like cooler and with update FX.  Back on point, forget but remember what happened in those first two movies because you kind of need to know but don’t need to know it.  Either way we’ll explain it.  It’d really help if you watched a lot of Star Trek because there are timelines all over the place and yeah there might be plot holes all over the place and if you think too hard it’ll make zero sense, so don’t.  It’s all good we have a great director who knows how to film big action sequences and they’ll be fun, we promise!  Oh and did we mention that Arnold freaking Schwarzenegger is back, giggle, and we totally explain why it’s ok that’s he’s old.  He’s hilarious!  We couldn’t explain Linda Hamilton and Michael Biehn being old so we replaced them with the mother of freaking dragons!  OMG she’s sooooo hot, probably not believably tough, but look at her china doll features!  And come on look Jai Courtney, he’s like a warm plate of vanilla ice cream, it’s not great but it ain’t bad either!  I almost forgot about Jason Clarke, he’s like super important, but I think we finally nailed a grown up version of Edward Furlong!  We knew you couldn’t wait for a pretty good twist, so we just told everybody because, come on who hates waiting!  So thanks for giving us a shot on your July 4^th weekend, its hot outside and who wants to see stupid fireworks, we’ve got our own and I’m pretty sure you’ll enjoy our movies a lot more than you thought you would!  Enjoy!

P.S. We threw in JK Simmons because he like won and Oscar and insures my house!  Probably should have used him more because he’s hilarious!

C+

MOVIE REVIEW: RED 2

Frank (Bruce Willis), Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker), and Marvin (John Malkovich) fight an unrelenting onslaught of hired killers, heavily armed terrorists, and powerful government officials in their desperate race to prevent a missing portable nuclear device from falling into the wrong hands. Sir Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren, Lee Byung-hun, and Catherine Zeta Jones co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Director: Dean Parisot

Cast: Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Mary-Louise Parker, Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren

Release Date: Jul 19, 2013

Rated PG-13 for pervasive action and violence including frenetic gunplay, and for some language and drug material.

Runtime: 1 hr. 56 min.

Review:

I’ll be upfront and say that I enjoyed Red 2 much more than I probably should have. It’s overlong somewhat predictable and incredibly stupid but it delivers the kind of mindless fun I look for occasionally. Dean Parisot direction is far from perfect but he excels with the outlandish action set pieces which are lots of fun. Unfortunately there are plenty of dead spots throughout, the film could have easily been trimmed by a good half hour. By the end of the film even the action pieces start to drag on because the film just seems to go on forever. Still, the cast is clearly enjoying themselves with expanded roles for Mary-Louise Parker and Helen Mirren which I consider a positive. Anthony Hopkins and Lee Byung-hun inject some good energy while Catherine Zeta Jones isn’t nearly as effective as you’d expect. Bruce Willis is on cruise control letting the supporting players do the heavy lifting. Red 2 is a film that’s easy to watch and just as easy to forget.

C+