Magnificent!

I don't know why people keep remaking awesome movies. Why did they need to remake Seven Samurai as a western? Why did they remake The Magnificent Seven (Robert Vaughan RIP) as a space opera (Robert Vaughan RIP)? And why make The Magnificent Seven (2016)? Maybe because it's awesome?

In this version, there is a gold mining company trying to push the townspeople out. They massacre the menfolk, burn the church and give the rest 3 weeks to get out. So spunky widow Haley Bennett sets out to gather an army to defend the town. SPOILER - she comes up with seven.

They are led by Denzel Washington, head badass, and Chris Pratt, head wiseass. There's a psycho mountain-man injun killer, a Mexican, a damaged Reb by the euphonious appellation of Goodnight Robicheaux and his Asian associate, and an Indian named after the Dash Hammett story, Red Harvest. As usual, the plan is to turn the town into a kill box for the bad guys. Since the town is a few buildings on one street on a broad flat valley, that will be hard.

The big fight at the end was pretty good, but in my opinion it was the seven that really made this movie. They were a bit more diverse, a little more fun than the original team - maybe just a little more extreme. Like Martin Sensmeier as Red Harvest shooting up the invaders with his bow and arrow - so iconic. And like a good classic western, there were lots of scenes of the crew galloping across the plains to the strains of Elmer Bernstein's classic theme.

So, pretty awesome movie  - I'll leave it at that, and ask a question: Best kill box movie? There's a lot to be said for Seven Samurai, or maybe something like Home Alone (think about it). But I'm going to say 13 Assassins.