The Magnificent Seven movie reviews

Here's what critics are saying about 'The Magnificent Seven', starring Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Lee Byung-hun, Vincent D'Onofrio, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Martin Sensmeier:

Fuqua has always specialised in dark action pictures which draw a thick line in the sand between right and wrong. There’s not much nuance here – some racial antagonism between Hawke and Washington’s characters might have spiked the brew. But this director does have a flair for rhythmically intense set-pieces, and his whole film justifies its existence when the bullets start flying. The score, by the late James Horner, dispenses with the famous Elmer Bernstein theme, which we only hear sounding strangely incongruous over the end credits. The music, and the movie, knuckles down to gritty combat without much time for hum-along hero-worship. Read the complete movie review here.

The bonding between the desperados doesn’t make especially compelling viewing. As in the recent blockbuster Suicide Squad, there are just too many principal characters and the film can’t do justice to them all. It doesn’t help, either, that we know exactly how the plot is going to unfold. They’re heading to Rose Creek where, inevitably, they will eventually have to take on the full might of Bogue's forces. They’ll need the help of the locals to stand any chance. These are farming folk, more accustomed to handling pitchforks than guns. The seven give them a crash course in how to fight. Read the complete movie review here.