I am entering western mode here apparently, and this viewing is what kicked it off. It has been a long time since I've seen the original, and I'm sort of glad. Now I hopefully am not too biased going in.
Overall, this is a pretty good piece of entertainment. No, this isn't some high end artistic film on the level that I remember the original being (not even close to Seven Samurai), but not every movie needs to be that. Instead, we get a really fun experience with interesting characters fighting it out in style.
Denzel Washington is a pretty solid lead in here, but I will admit that my favorites of the seven are Ethan Hawke and Vincent D'Onofrio. Hawke isn't exactly one of my favorites, but I do like him from time to time. Here his southern man character just has a great personality. D'Onofrio is pretty much always different in his roles. His voice is so weird, and the shyness in such a crazy wildlife guy is fun to watch.
There are a few problems though, mainly with the tech stuff. I really disliked some of the action directing. While the staging was good, the way they used a minor slow motion style here and there was frustrating. I don't like that style normally, but putting it into the old west just doesn't feel right at all. And why the hell did they wait until the credits to play the great theme?
If you're in the mood for a fun western, go check it out.
Review by saundrewBlockedParent2016-10-10T22:24:07Z
I am entering western mode here apparently, and this viewing is what kicked it off. It has been a long time since I've seen the original, and I'm sort of glad. Now I hopefully am not too biased going in.
Overall, this is a pretty good piece of entertainment. No, this isn't some high end artistic film on the level that I remember the original being (not even close to Seven Samurai), but not every movie needs to be that. Instead, we get a really fun experience with interesting characters fighting it out in style.
Denzel Washington is a pretty solid lead in here, but I will admit that my favorites of the seven are Ethan Hawke and Vincent D'Onofrio. Hawke isn't exactly one of my favorites, but I do like him from time to time. Here his southern man character just has a great personality. D'Onofrio is pretty much always different in his roles. His voice is so weird, and the shyness in such a crazy wildlife guy is fun to watch.
There are a few problems though, mainly with the tech stuff. I really disliked some of the action directing. While the staging was good, the way they used a minor slow motion style here and there was frustrating. I don't like that style normally, but putting it into the old west just doesn't feel right at all. And why the hell did they wait until the credits to play the great theme?
If you're in the mood for a fun western, go check it out.