Antoine Fuqua has done it again. He has remade a classic and made it good and fun and totally enjoyable.
Both times (the first being The Equalizer) he did it with Denzel Washington so can we expect to see this becoming a streak?
This cast was solid and diverse. Other than the bigger names like Washington, Chris Pratt or Ethan Hawke that impressed me, the one that quite stood out was Lee Byung Hun; and part of that reason was because his command of English is so good now. Possibly the first Asian actor who successfully made that transition in their grasp of the English language.
But the pacing, the tone and the entertainment factor for this remake was just great. Especially those action sequences, one small one in the middle and then the final big one, masterfully directed by Fuqua.
That western feel, that sense of adventure and camaraderie, all came through just as how you would want it to. The only downside I felt, which was a big one, was how half of the team came together. They did so with no really strong reason or agenda, not even Pratt's character.
Could Fuqua spent a little bit more time developing the characters? Possibly. But then would he have any room to cut out other scenes, that's a tough one because I thought every scene that we saw was needed.
Speaking of Pratt, he had the most charisma and humour. This was a great role for him to add to his belt.
I actually expected much more from Peter Sarsgaard as I thought his villain would be much more juicier from the trailers. I thought he didn't have enough screentime or lines to make him stand out more.
Also, James Horner's final score before his sudden passing last year also accompanied the movie very well. When the original score appeared at the end, that brought back some nostalgic feelings.
But overall, how the way the movie ended, it was very satisfying to watch and brought out just enough emotions to make for good repeat viewings.
No comments:
Post a Comment