I love Antoine Fuque's taste in old movies - he clearly grew up with guys on a mission films such as this one. They've been talking about remaking Seven for ages - Walter Hill was going to do it once, then Brian De Palma. I heard about one version which was going to be set in Columbia fighting against drug lords which would've been awesome and fresh.
I can't actually really see the motivation to make this one. It's still a Western. The seven are a bit more multicultural - there's an Indian, a Korean, a black. But not terribly unique.
In the 1960 film most of them had a little arc - Brad Dexter was out for cash, Robert Vaughan was having a nervous breakdown, Horst Bucholz wanted to be part of the gang, Charles Bronson was haunted.
It was hard to tell these ones apart. The Korean remains the Korean, the Indian is the Indian. The ones who stick out most are the bigger names:Ethan Hawke (superb) as a traumatised Confederate; Washington (a good Western hero) is out for revenge but we only find out at the very end. Vincent D'Onforio looks good as a jolly tubby hunter but I wasn't sure what his arc was.
There was an overall theme too - the seven (well, six because Dexter was always after the cash) find meaning fighting for the villagers. It provided a solid three act structure because at the end of act two the seven get their arses kicked and are told to get out of town. This movie doesn't do that - the seven arrive, and kick arse, and gather a big army, and kick more arse. True some die - the most suspenseful thing about the film is seeing who will live and who will die out of the heroes. But it seems a relatively easy feat.
There's no romance - the only girl of significance is widowed early on and everyone respects that. The villains aren't that memorable. We've seen Peter Skarsgaard play a baddie a few times now - he hardly seems a match for Washington and his men. Maybe it wouldn't have been so noticeable if more thought had been put into his henchmen. Everyone is an excellent shot, giving the action scenes a same-y quality.
It sounds like I'm bagging it. I guess I am but I enjoyed a lot of the film. The cast is very good, the photography is divine. Nice to hear the theme song at the end but why not have it at the top?
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