THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN    3.0*** 

      The movie works well on many levels. It follows the basic story set forth in the original 1960s "The Magnificent Seven". Much like in the original where Yul Brenner was the star and main guy,  this remake has Denzel Washington.

The plot is pretty straight forward.  A corrupt wicked businessman  wants to buy out a small Texas town's land rights so he can mine the land for gold. As he begins to exert his will on the town, one of the town's residents stands up to him and when his friend joins in, there's violence and both the men (and several other townsfolk) end up dead. And to top off how mean the main villain is he even burns the church. The man's widow decides to go hire some top guns to put an end to the villain’s greedy, murderous plot. She meets Denzel in a town not far from Rose Creek (the contested town) and offers him the job for  ALL the money the townspeople have. At first, Denzel declines.  However, she eventually convinces him to take the job, and he goes about recruiting some extra help  and, (SURPRISE) he ends up with 7 including himself ( the “Mag 7” ). And what a great bunch the 7 are:  Denzel Washington is  as the charismatic leader, Chris Pratt as the group's joker and explosives-man, Ethan Hawke  as the tormented sniper and Vincent D'Onofrio  as the whimsical frontiersman, along with a Mexican, a Chinese and an American Indian actor. The movie makers took to heart the cry for diversity !!! They share a winning chemistry that makes them  watchable from start to finish. Also to be mentioned is Haley Bennett as the fierce widow/townsperson who stands her ground and is almost an eight to the seven.

The Mag. 7  sets out for Rose Creek and have to convince the townspeople that they must fight to save their town. Those that don’t leave are put through a primitive kind of basic training which is a hoot.

The story is as old as time, a small band of mercenaries with nothing to fight for find themselves drawn into defending the little town from the wrath of the main baddie, capably played by Peter Sarsgaard . When the big showdown comes, it is one heck of a showdown.  The movie builds and builds to this climatic 20 or so minute showdown. What makes the action so good is that there is little CGI. The action/stunts are done through practical effects and terrific stuntmen.

Overall, The Magnificent Seven is a straight up popcorn movie, so don't go  expecting anything else. It’s good and it’s fun but not great. It won’t be a classic as the original was. But it was nice to see a standard Western again, with well-worn characters and beautiful vistas.. This movie is a remake that actually delivers.

 Rated PG-13 for extended and intense sequences of Western violence and some language.

Clark