Disapointment

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Blistering performances.

Lots of violence, little morality, little reality and no likable characters. Though not made in Italy, this is a spaghetti western.

Is it a masterpiece? No. But does it entertain you as a film should? Definitely. The acting is all great, but of course it is with so many fantastic actors. Chris Pratt once again is the stand out star in my opinion. He's his usual hilarious, charming and cool self. They did a great job with the fight scenes, special effects/practical effects and the writing is also really well done. An all around good movie. The only thing I can really fault it for is not having more speaking roles for actresses. Only one susbstantial female role in the whole movie. Other than that is was really good.

A remake of a great film that is a remake of an even greater film (Akira Kurosawa's 'Seven Samurai'), there are worse remakes out there than 2016's 'The Magnificent Seven'. Primarily 'Psycho', 'The Wicker Man', 'Rollerball', 'Ghostbusters' and 'Stepford Wives'.'The Magnificent Seven' has its strengths but fails to live up to its title and one does question the point of it. It is well made visually, with an atmospherically gritty look and an evocative setting. Some of the action excites and the direction has a dark grit that is typical of Antoine Fuqua. While it is nowhere near as unforgettable or as iconic as one of film's all time great scores, James Horner's score here is demonstrative of what a great talent he was and how his tragic far too early death is still a sad loss.Casting is very variable, some of the acting is very good, some of it doesn't work. The best performances come from Denzel Washington, charismatic as ever, Ethan Hawke excelling in an atypical role and Haley Bennett mixing toughness and vulnerability adeptly. The most interesting character relationship is between Washington and Hawke and gives the film the few glimpses of realism and substance. Lee Byung-hun is also good fun.Others don't fare so well, not helped by that most of the characters are not that interesting and sketchily developed. Didn't think either Chris Pratt or Vincent D'Onofrio, both decent and more in other things, fitted particularly well, Pratt especially jarred and his humorous lines lack wit and don't gel. Faring the worst is Peter Sarsgaard, who just isn't sinister or intense enough, even in a severely underwritten role he looks like he's sleepwalking.While there's a lot of blood and violence, there is little soul or heart underneath and some of it is gratuitous. The dialogue is awkward, particularly the humour which falls flat and often feels misplaced. The story suffers from an overlong length, a sluggish pace, a lack of tension or suspense and heavy-handed and pointless political elements. Won't carp about the political correctness like some have but it doesn't add anything. The illogical and anaemic ending underwhelms drastically as well.In summary, has its strengths but not so magnificent and one does question the point of it. 5/10 Bethany Cox

There was a guy: Akira Kurosawa. He made some films. Many of them were outstanding. Who cares. Millenials cannot relate to "outstanding". What we want to do is take Kurosawa's basic story, but turn it into "DIVERSITY HIRE 7". Millenials can relate to DIVERSITY HIRES. They've had that BS shoved down their throats for the last 20 years. Then we're going to make sure the DIVERSITY HIRE 7 have no more depth & as much bluster as any "COMIC BOOK 7" would have. Millenials can relate to COMIC BOOK movies. They've also had those shoved down their throats for the last 20 years. But we're not done yet. We have to make sure to give zero reason why any of these COMIC BOOK CHARACTERS would possibly join the "7". Give a reason & the millennials may have to "think". Millenials hate to think. OK, almost done. To top it off, the leader, the #1 of the 7. Denzel. We make his character an amalgam of Clint Eastwood characters. That way, if any non-millennials watch this film they'll feel a faint familiarity. Oh wait, will the familiarity breed contempt?