Thursday, January 25, 2018

The Magnificent Seven (2016)

Far from being 'magnificent' as the title claims, this is as ordinary as cinema can get.
Denzel Washington's entry scene aside, am not sure if I liked anything about this film at all.
The soundtrack is lacklustre, the dialogues stereotypical, the storytelling conservative and the shootout from the second half is nothing short of a magnificent mess (I hope they weren't referring to this when they picked the name).
It takes a special kind of talent to produce an average film with such a stellar cast at one's disposal. And from watching his previous films I had a fair idea that Antoine Fuqua had the potential to display this talent.
A consistent absence of any unique directorial style, thats what I have noted in the five films of his I've seen so far. (Training Day was really good. But only because it wasn't a director's film).
Fuqua seems to prefer being in the backseat and that- as you would agree- does not bode well if the script isn't singularly powerful on its own.
I would rate this two out of five. I found myself rolling my eyes at the deaths of key characters in the third act, and that speaks volumes.
But that scene where Washington's Chisolm appears first in a bar is just really well done.
So, a two and a half still seems fair.
Its films like these that make me wonder if all that criticism Tarantino's western The Hateful Eight received (including from me) was a tad unjustified.

At least that man knows how to take charge of his fucking film.
Catch Trailer here:

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