The villagers of Rose Creek are in a desperate situation as a wealthy businessman Bartholomew Bogue (Peter Sarsgaard) is extracting gold from a local mine, wants the town for his own purposes and will stop at nothing to get it. When the locals try and stand up to him they are dealt with in the harshest of ways, one of whom is Matthew Cullen (Matt Bomer) who’s wife Emma (Haley Bennett) along with her friend Teddy Q (Luke Grimes) decide enough is enough and to head to a nearby town to hire some men to help them fight back. When they see bounty hunter Sam Chisolm (Denzel Washington) deal with some men in the town they approach him for assistance but he refuses until Emma explains who is at the center of their problems. Chisolm decides to take the job and thus sets out to put together a team of men that will help and thus the seven are gathered together to fight alongside the remaining villagers.

Being a remake of the original 1960 Western which in turn was a remake of the Akira Kurisawa Seven Samuari movie I doubt my review is going to bring any surprises in terms of storyline or plot but what director Antoine Fuqua does with this movie does is give you an entertaining retelling of good versus evil with a Western setting where you just tag along for the ride and stuff popcorn in your face. I didn’t realise the movie was over two hours long until afterwards and I certainly didn’t notice it during the film itself as there is rarely a dull moment in the movie, if there is not a gunfight, stand off or some form of action on screen, there’s good dialogue forming back story or character building and with Shooter, The Equalizer, Olympus Has Fallen and the very underrated Southpaw now under his belt Fuqua has repeatedly shown that he can put together an entertaining film regardless of the theme. Throw in some great cinematography by Mauro Fiore with some beautiful sweeping shots of the landscape and sets backed by one of the last scores by the late, great James Horner both of which enhance the movies atmosphere in all the right ways and you are well on the way to a winner.

Where the movie is let down is with the characters themselves. With such a large cast of main players it’s difficult to give time to each in order to develop a story arc and to ensure they all receive enough screen time for you to develop a bond of sorts with them and with a few exceptions, which I will come onto shortly, this was my biggest gripe. Neither the Comanche warrior Red Harvest (Martin Sensmeier) or the outlaw Vasquez (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) were given anywhere near enough screen time and their motivations were questionable at best. Chris Pratt as drinker and gambler Josh Faraday was good but never felt like he fit with the rest of the group, it was as if they cast Pratt and then decided that he needed to have the funny one liners and smart quips which made the character feel a bit unnatural even if he did a great Man With No Name impression at times. Sarsgaard looked like he was having fun as the evil Bogue but for me his character has a bit too pantomime and over the top to be really evil and I was waiting for him to tie a damsel to a train tracks and start twirling his moustache.

I was very surprised by Vincent D’Onofrio as tracker Jack Horner, he lumbers across screen like some man beast yet his character was given real purpose despite the small amount of screen time and the surprise you will feel the first time he speaks was a turn of genius, I’m not sure if that was Fuqua or D’Onofrio but whichever it was credit must be given. Bennett gave a great portrayal of a strong woman well able to hold her own against this band of men who, while there to help are little more than mercenaries but she gives as good as it gets and is a beacon of fortitude for the struggling village. The best characters for me were the assassin Billy Rocks (Byung Hun Lee) and sharpshooter Goodnight Robicheaux (Ethan Hawke) as their chemistry was superb, you felt that the characters had a long past together and the performance of Hawke in particular was excellent as a man haunted by his past, struggling to keep things together. Lastly there’s Washington as the business like bounty hunter, I’ve always been a big fan and I cannot fault him again here. Even if I though he was outshone by Hawke he is still an absolute immense screen presence so when his big reveal comes at the end it’s an epic moment and Fuqua seems to be able to bring the best out of the man when they work together.

After a summer of relative blockbuster disappointment this one has finally hit the mark, while not perfect by any means it is an enjoyable action Western with a super finale which will keep you entertained from start to finish. Now where’s my copy of Red Dead Redemption for my Xbox gone?

DJ Speaks Rating: 6.5 out Of 10