TOWARDS the bullet-riddled conclusion of director Antoine Fuqua’s stylish western remake, a voiceover dreamily recalls the self-sacrifice and heroism of seven righteous men, who laid down their lives for a town in jeopardy.
“It was magnificent,” gushes the film’s narrator.
That’s going a little far.
In its bombastic latest incarnation, The Magnificent Seven lassos a stellar cast and a rollicking soundtrack composed by the late, great James Horner and completed by his good friend, Simon Franglen.
Action sequences are orchestrated at a canter and Richard Wenk and Nic Pizzolatto’s script introduces some moments of bone dry humour in between the frenetic shoot-outs.
It’s an entertaining ride, but Fuqua struggles to distinguish his battle royale between morally conflicted men from the countless westerns that have trotted down this same narrative trail.
Oscar-winner Denzel Washington, who won his golden statuette in Fuqua’s 2001 film Training Day, is a swaggering, physically imposing hero, driven to his suicidal actions in the name of retribution.
The Magnificent Seven rests comfortably on the shoulders of Washington and his battling band of co-stars.
The script is peppered with well-heeled one-liners - “Fame is a sarcophagus” - and the final assault on a besieged Rose Creek packs in sufficient excitement to warrant staying in the saddle for 133 minutes. 6/10
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