Even in the realms of cinematic remakes, this is a rather
unique ouroborosian situation. While you are quickly Googling that word, I’ll
get into why this is. Back when I looked at Slow West, I made brief mention of
the relationship between Japanese and Western cinema and here is where we crash
head-first into one of the first branches on that tree. Based on the Akira
Kurosawa classic Seven Samurai, the original Magnificent Seven is a seminal
staple of Old Hollywood and set in place an action blueprint of the rag-tag
team of characters that come together to fight a great foe that would be copied
verbatim for decades to follow. If you’ve ever watched A Bug’s Life, then you
have a pretty good idea of the formula. With that in mind, and the fact that
this is a reimagining of a remake of a definitive piece of cinema (all of which
has sprouted its own niches and sub-genres in their wake), this could prove a
tricky one. It is also, based solely on the trailer, one of the few films this
year that I have genuinely been anxious to see for myself. Time to dig in and
see how this holds up, considering this film has a lot that it needs to prove.
