Tabari McCoy

The rest of our would be heroes likewise hit their marks, adding a unique flavor to the mix that never feels as forced as one might fear it may, Sensmeier and Lee especially as each plays their role with nothing but a stoic pride, reverence and relevance. While their characters are supposed to be a rag-tag group of fighters, there is nothing that feels unnatural about their work together. When you have badasses that know they are badasses, it’s much better to have them simply show they are badasses than to have them repeatedly say they are (think every 80s action movie starring men now in their 60s).

Bennett shows a solid turn as a strong female character, exhibiting a balance between wife pushed to her limits and woman in a harsh time (and even harsher environment). While there are times she almost feels a bit too put upon, but she does her best to rise above the near one-note (but somewhat needed) nature of her character. Sarsgaard turns in his finest villainous turn to date because he does the thing many actors fail to do in villainous roles: Embrace the fact they are the pure embodiment of pain, torture and despair that will stop at nothing to accomplish their goals. Instead of being an after thought that fails to live up to his ominous presence, Sarsgaard makes sure that you know there will be no stopping him and that he has not one ounce of remorse in his being – and that’s what a good villain does.

Director Antoine Fuqua of course deserves credit for making all of his moving pieces fit together, which, given the star power involved, was obviously not an easy task. As stated above, each actor makes the most of their moment en route to reaching their individual destinies, which is just all you can ask (other than doing something remarkable that takes the performance to another level). The scenery stays within the tradition of what one associates with the Old West from the dusty, life-worn roughnecks of saloons to the unrelenting beauty of the frontier. Save for possibly replaying a copy of Red Dead Redemption, Seven combines modern drama with the classic Western tale exceptionally under Fuqua’s watch, the battle and gunfight scenes showcasing excellent tension creation in slow, steady builds before bombastic, grandiose all out violence.

Whether or not the Western as a genre comes back into vogue remains to be seen; if Hollywood delivers more immersive experiences like The Magnificent Seven, though, there’s a good chance they might ride again.