The Magnificent Seven

Other films with this title: “The Magnificent Seven” (1960)
“The Magnificent Seven” (1998)

Review updated March 4, 2017

“The Magnificent Seven” is one of the best films of 2016. The title is well-earned by its smoldering cast, and director Antoine Fuqua has pulled off several feats with this film. First, he has redeemed himself from recent movies like “Olympus Has Fallen” and “Southpaw.” Second, he has masterfully brought the western genre back to the big screen, leaving last year’s “The Hateful Eight” in the dust. Thirdly, he made a remake that didn’t stink—no, it didn’t do everything better than the original, but it holds up worthily. And fourthly, this is probably his best film.

Many will see this film for Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, and Ethan Hawke. But the not-so-famous actors give just as magnificent performances as these three. Vincent D'Onofrio, who most viewers will know from “Jurassic World,” plays a very emotional backwoodsman who has endured a lot throughout his years. This character is a devout Christian who is constantly heard praying and quoting Scripture, even in the midst of battle scenes.

Byung-hun Lee, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, and Martin Sensmeier are excellent representatives of their diverse characters as Chinese, Mexican, and Native American. Matt Bomer also has a brief, but memorable, appearance at the beginning.

But Haley Bennett steals every scene she is in, playing a grieving but strong woman whose husband was murdered. This is what causes her to hire the seven men to defend the town from a gang trying to take over it.

While the plot is quite simple, there is strong character development and contemplative discussions about how all the warriors feel about what they’re doing. These things don’t drag the film out unnecessarily, and the well-paced action flares up the screen in satisfactory time.

My recommendation of this film does not come without caution. This is essentially a war movie. Sure, the war is fictional, it’s confined to a single town, and it only lasts one battle. But it’s a war nonetheless—an army against an army. The violence stays within its PG-13 boundaries, but on the heavy side. Almost every weapon of the period is used, from tiny Chinese darts to dynamite. There is very little blood, but that is made up for by a high body count.

There are also several utterances of the usual language you’d expect from a period-accurate western. D**n, s**t, h**l, and b***h are all used about five to ten times, and there are ten utterances of God’s names. Sometimes those could be taken as crying out to God, but half of them are paired with d**n.

The sexual content is all implied, and there is very little even of that. A few innuendos are made, and we see a few women that are apparently prostitutes (sadly part of the time period), but there is no explicit content or excessive immodesty. We also get a glimpse of a woman’s cleavage as she bends over her husband, who has just been shot.

Not all the protagonists are angelic heroes. Some of the recruits join for self-serving reasons, and a few are initially murderous outlaws. Chris Pratt’s character is a sort of cowboy version of Han Solo—part womanizing, drinking gambler, and part heart of gold who wants to help people. However, the more these men work with the Godly heroes, the more they consider their own lives that they are about to risk for a righteous cause.

There are several poignant scenes that take place in a church, such as when the seven men are encouraged to get right with God before going to battle. ***SPOILER*** At the end, when the bounty hunter catches the ringleader, he takes him to the church and tells him to pray before his execution. ***END SPOILER*** There are a few references to revenge, but the violent battle at the end is a necessary means to protect the innocent town.

I also appreciated the film’s realistic approach to war. This isn’t one of those films where all the good guys survive because the bad guys can’t shoot straight. No, good guys and well as bad guys die here.

This film definitely lived up to the rip-roaring, rollicking fun I expected, but was also more thought-provoking than I expected. And though there is some objectionable content here and there, I was very pleasantly surprised by the amount of Christian faith displayed. In my opinion, “The Magnificent Seven” is a magnificent movie!

Violence: Very heavy / Profanity: Moderate—G*d d*mn (5), G*d dang (1), Oh L*rd (1), Good L*rd (2), By G*d (1), h*ll (12), d*mn (9), son of a b*tch (7), s-words (5+), a** (3) / Sex/nudity: Mild

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