Denzel Washington leads a band of outlaws in ‘The Magnificent 7’

The Western genre can be hit-or-miss, but director Antoine Fuqua has hit the mark with his remake of the classic 1960 film “The Magnificent Seven.”

The new cast has a megastar assembly led by Academy Award winner Denzel Washington as Sam Chisolm, a bounty hunter tasked by a young woman (Hayley Bennett) with saving the town of Rose Creek from the raiders of corrupt industrialist Bartholemew Bogue (Peter Sarsgaard).

Joining Chisolm are gambler Josh Faraday (Chris Pratt), sharpshooter Goodnight Robicheaux (Ethan Hawke), assassin Billy Rocks (Byung-hun Lee), tracker Jack Horne (Vincent D’Onofrio), outlaw Vasquez (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), and warrior Red Harvest (Martin Sensmeier). Together these men find themselves fighting for more than just money, and helping the residents of the town get their lives back by giving them a fighting chance against the bad guys.

One thing admirable about this remake of a remake (the original Magnificent Seven was a remake of the 1954 Akira Kurosawa film Seven Samurai) is that it takes the original concept and injects a whole new story for audiences to enjoy. The setting of the old west has never felt more compelling to revisit, and there’s a great balance of action, comedy, and dramatic tension that focuses on the seven working together in this literal “suicide mission.” Washington, Pratt, and the rest give exceptional performances, and it’s one film that no fan of the cast and this genre should miss.

Highly recommended just for that shiny feeling of seeing cowboys doing good and shooting bad guys! — BM, GMA News

The Magnificent Seven, distributed by Columbia Pictures Philippines, is now playing in theaters!