‘The Magnificent Seven’ is great, just not magnificent

“The Magnificent Seven” is a remake of a remake. But don’t let that fact keep you from seeing it.

One of the first films I saw as a boy that my Dad took me to was the 1954 film “Seven Samurai.” It’s still one of the greatest films ever made.

“Seven Samurai” inspired Hollywood to do its own version called “The Magnificent Seven” in 1960. The basic setup was a bandit was terrorizing a Mexican town and the only hope the townspeople have is a group of gunslingers.

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In the new movie, director Antoine Fuqua totally transforms “The Magnificent Seven” for the modern age. He does a bang-up job. I was stunned at how good the movie is.

Everything about this movie looks great.

It is not a historical vision of the old west. Instead of a bandit terrorizing a town it is more of a commercial bandit — a corporate raider trying to drive people away.

The leader the Magnificent Seven is Denzel Washington. He recruits others, including Ethan Hawke, who could get an Oscar for his performance and portrayal of a former Confederate sharpshooter.

The updating of the script is quite clever.

There are people who are going to watch this film and claim it is another Hollywood political statement about Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. The bad guy is an egocentric businessman. The good guys are a celebration of diversity. And it’s coming out just weeks before the election.

Either way, the entire movie is very clever and fun to watch. It is fairly brutal for a PG-13. There are all kinds of moments with serious violence.

It’s hard for me to imagine anyone will be disappointed.

I give this movie three stars. It is not magnificent, but it’s darn good.

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