The Magnificent 7 is remake of the 1960s classic with the same title. While remakes have gained a reputation of being terrible movies, the remake of The Magnificent 7 was surprisingly entertaining and very good.

The movie opens with the small town of Rose Creek is being terrorized by Bartholomew Bogue (Peter Sarsgaard), a powerful, corrupt industrialist who wants to buy up the farmland for his mining plans. Emma Cullen’s (Haley Bennett) husband is shot and killed and soon after, Cullen recruits Josh Faraday (Chris Pratt), Goodnight Robicheax (Ethan Hawke), Billy Rocks (Byung-hun Lee), Jack Horne (Vincent D’Onofrio), Red Harvest (Martin Sensmeier), Vasquez (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) and Sam Chisolm (Denzel Washington) to help her gain control of the town from Bogue.

The Magnificent 7 has several positives, including steller shootout and fighting scenes. While the death toll at times can seem excessive, these scenes are incredibly well done, and given that they are sometimes lengthy(with the final fight/shootout scene lasting near thirty minutes), it is impressive. The usage of mixing practical effects with computer effects are also executed well, but it is nothing new. Another positive is the modern update. While the original movie featured an all white cast tasked with saving a Mexican town and its inhabitants, director Antoine Fuqua worked to update the story for modern times. Casting actors of color and keeping the sole woman character from becoming the stereotypical “damsel in distress” added more to the story. The only thing I felt could have been improved would be adding more women to the story. The only important female character that talks in the movie is Cullen, and no other female characters in the story have any on screen lines. Make no mistake, while the movie doesn’t force Cullen into a stereotypical role, it by no means passes the Bechdel test.

Unfortunately, The Magnificent 7 is very predictable. The story is a classic revenge plot, and the viewer can see the ending coming from a mile away. Also, most of the characters are nowhere near being well developed. They are reduced down to one or two traits, like “the gambler”, “the war hero”, “the woman seeking revenge”, ect. Bogue especially falls into the stereotypical movie villain, complete with a speech about the joys of capitalism. While the focus of the movie is not on the characters but the action, it still would have added more to the movie to have better developed characters.

Overall, The Magnificent 7 is a very entertaining, action packed movie. The only downfall is the serious scenes tossed in with the fun action. The movie is at its best when it’s focusing on what it is: a cowboy action movie, and it falters when it tries to become more than that.