CREDIT: COLUMBIA PICTURES
The Magnificen Seven is a vehicle for action-packed shoot-outs and easy to swallow cheap drama.

The 2016 remake of The Magnificent Seven is a visually and sonically stunning film that sacrifices believability to give the audience what they want.

This movie looks incredible. Every frame is thoughtfully composed and shot in gorgeous high definition. There are plenty of smooth aerial swoops and pans of stunning desert landscapes and convincing western sets.

The special effects are also incredible: the gunshots and explosions are intense, impressive and realistic. The whole film has that dark colouration that’s popular in the contemporary film culture; it is easy to see this is a modern movie.

The plot is kept simple. The ultra wealthy and sadistic Bartholomew Bogue sieges a town, killing innocent people in the process including the husband of Emma Cullen. She subsequently hires bounty hunter Sam Chisolm to assemble a team to kill Bogue and return the town to its former state of independence.

This good vs. evil formula is meant to easily get the audience emotionally involved.

Unfortunately, Bogue is such a sadistic character that he just doesn’t seem real. His backstory is never explored in the film so he just comes across like a cartoon villain who is necessary to drive the plot, but is nothing more than a character, a representation of the idea of evil.

The movie is extremely formulaic and predictable. The audience is tipped off about upcoming shoot outs and explosions, then forced to sit through long stretches of lingering overdramatic close ups until enough suspense has built up. It feels like a collage of all the most accessible aspects of the western genre.

Another problem with this film is the characters never falter or say anything natural sounding; every line is unbearably grand and clever.

That being said, the cast does an exceptional job with what they were given, except for Chris Pratt who just seems out of place in the film. There’s something about his lines and delivery that seem too modern to fit with the time period the movie is set in or maybe it’s just that you can see him acting. Pratt plays a fearless bounty hunter who makes smug jokes and is totally relaxed and unflinching in the face of danger to the point of being unbelievable and corny.

Pratt is famous for this particular brand of humor where he makes naive childlike comments that are funny because he is a full grown man. He has a particular charm that lets him get away with it to some extent, but while it works in Parks and Recreation or The Lego Movie it just doesn’t make sense here.

Yet he says, “I’ve always wanted to blow something up” and the theatre explodes with laughter. It’s the kind of humour that belongs in a VHS children’s movie and it really makes the movie feel inconsistent.

The dramatic stretches are so over-the-top and the humor can be so stupid that it’s hard to make sense of.

On a positive note, the film score is great. It’s classic sounding and creative, frequently using unconventional percussive sounds that fit the tone of the movie perfectly. It’s dynamically flawless, fading into subtlety in the background when it’s not necessary and swelling to the forefront during moments of intensity.

The Magnificent Seven is definitely a fun movie if you particularly enjoy westerns and you’re in the mood for something light. Just don’t expect a new, interesting contribution to the genre.