The Magnificent Seven...
Can I just say how weird it feels to be talking about The Magnificent Seven and yet not be talking about Chris and Vin? Weird as, people.
To be honest, if it wasn't for the title and the fact that there's seven of them, I'd hardly think of this movie as The Magnificent Seven at all. Which is fine by me. And the fact that there is no Chris and Vin is even better, because it means there's no rivalling Michael Biehn and Eric Close in my fannish imagination. Because for me there is only one Magnificent Seven and it ain't the original.
So, the movie. I came for Chris Pratt and Denzel in chaps, but I went away all about Lee Byung-hun. Hel-lo! I wanted more of him. Enough with Denzel's black-clad manpain - I wanted more Billy Rocks and his knives!
The movie's okay, enjoyable enough - but it's all about building up to the epic western shootouts, so there's very little character-building going on. So when bad shit happens to some of our Seven (as is inevitable and true to the original - won't say who, what, how or why) you don't really care very much. When I'm watching an epic battle and finding myself more concerned with the horses than the main characters, you've pretty much failed on that level.
But since they didn't even try, I'm guessing the director was only really concerned with the big epic western shootout and not developing any kind of emotional connection between the audience and the characters. And that's kinda what I watch movies for. So, meh, thumbs down, back to my Magnificent Seven DVDs and the Epic Love Story of Chris and Vin...
To be honest, if it wasn't for the title and the fact that there's seven of them, I'd hardly think of this movie as The Magnificent Seven at all. Which is fine by me. And the fact that there is no Chris and Vin is even better, because it means there's no rivalling Michael Biehn and Eric Close in my fannish imagination. Because for me there is only one Magnificent Seven and it ain't the original.
So, the movie. I came for Chris Pratt and Denzel in chaps, but I went away all about Lee Byung-hun. Hel-lo! I wanted more of him. Enough with Denzel's black-clad manpain - I wanted more Billy Rocks and his knives!
The movie's okay, enjoyable enough - but it's all about building up to the epic western shootouts, so there's very little character-building going on. So when bad shit happens to some of our Seven (as is inevitable and true to the original - won't say who, what, how or why) you don't really care very much. When I'm watching an epic battle and finding myself more concerned with the horses than the main characters, you've pretty much failed on that level.
But since they didn't even try, I'm guessing the director was only really concerned with the big epic western shootout and not developing any kind of emotional connection between the audience and the characters. And that's kinda what I watch movies for. So, meh, thumbs down, back to my Magnificent Seven DVDs and the Epic Love Story of Chris and Vin...