THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (2016)

Genre: Western / Action

Running Length: 2:12

Cast: Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Byung-hun Lee, Vincent D’Onofrio, Martin Sensmeier, Peter Sarsgaard, Hayley Bennett

Director: Antoine Fuqua 

Screenplay: Richard Wenk & Nic Pizzolatto, based on the screenplay for “The Seven Samurai” by Akira Kurosawa & Shinobu Hashimoto & Hideo Oguni 

This updated version of THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN brings nothing new to the table except to literally update it for today's generation since the original is more than 50 years old (the 1960 version was also a re-imagination of Akira Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai (1954)).

To be fair, the first act was a good set-up where we witness the chief villain (deliciously played by Sarsgaard) struts into a church of a small frontier town with his men and forces the villagers to sell their land for cheap. Of course, things went south and helpless peasants were brutally killed. As a result, one of the widowed decided to go against these aggressors by recruiting a fighting force. The plot is simple enough to follow but yet when the credits rolled, the entire experience just felt like an exercise in futility. 

The "seven" characters were underdeveloped and thus I didn't care much at all when the odds were stacked against them in the loud and chaotic final act. One interesting thing the filmmakers could have focused on is to invest a little bit more time to give a proper backstory to our heroes so that their purpose of assembling together is more believable. It felt like Suicide Squad ie. what's in it for a bunch of misfits to get together to save the world?   

Washington is fine as the ringleader. Come to think of it, Denzel has always been playing a "cowboy" in his action movies eg Equalizer, Man on Fire, The Book of Eli. Pratt is as charismatic as ever. There are hints of the iconic score from the 1960s version (dum, dum, de-dum, dum dum dum da-de-dum) but you will have to wait till the closing credits to enjoy its full glory. 

Overall, despite its slick production, the diverse cast and fun shoot 'em up scenes, this popcorn western is forgettable. Towards the second half, I had this nagging voice in me that I should have just watched the original version or even the Japanese one.  

Rating: 6/10

JURASSIC WORLD (2015)

Genre: Science Fiction/Adventure
Running Length: 2:04
Cast:  Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Ty Simpkins, Nick Robinson, Irrfan Khan, Vincent D'Onofrio, Jake Johnson, Omar Sy
Director: Colin Trevorrow
Screenplay:  Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver and Colin Trevorrow & Derek Connolly, based on the novels by Michael Crichton

I was expecting JURASSIC WORLD to be another soulless CGI fest, but I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. Sure, it wasn't able to recapture the awe and magic of the original but that's actually a very tall order, isn't it? Even Spielberg himself couldn't pull it off in The Lost World. Although it's directed by a relatively newcomer (Trevorrow has only done one small movie before), he did really well here. It follows quite closely to the pattern of Jurassic Park; where the first 1/3 of the movie takes its time to establish its characters, the park and our "hero" dinosaur while the remaining of the film is dedicated to carnage and great action scenes. To be fair, it's not really a bad thing as it feels like an updated version for today's generation, but yet keeping the heart of the original intact (And speaking of heart, there is a moving scene which involved an interaction between man and dinosaur, that reminded me not to peel onions in the cinema).  In fact, this film is almost like a homage of sorts where all our favourite dinosaurs are back and even John Williams' iconic theme is fully embraced here too by composer Michael Giacchino. I actually like what he did with the subdued interpretations of the original score when it was used at appropriate scenes. And speaking of action, thankfully there is a sense of inherent danger and thrill in the dinosaur attack scenes but it doesn't come close to the memorable Raptors in the kitchen or T-Rex in the rain from the original. As for our actors, Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard here are dependable with the former fairing better with his charisma, humour and caring heart all wrapped up in a rugged and imposing physique (ladies...awww~). Pratt is truly a legit and mega-star in the making. Overall, although the climax comes across as too neat and convenient, this sequel/soft reboot is a solid piece of entertainment. (Oh! And see if you can catch the little social commentary "wink at the audience" satirical jab at movie sequels needing to be bigger, badder and have more corporate sponsorships)

Rating: 8/10