3:10 to Yuma

3:10 to Yuma (2007)

I am not a big fan of remakes. Most remakes are awful, Hollywood-tainted pieces of garbage that are less of a good film and more of a patchwork of "cool" scenes. I prefer remakes of movies I have not yet seen; that way, I have no expectations to be ruined. I never saw the original 3:10 to Yuma, so I was excited for this 2007 remake to begin with. But there was another obstacle that I had to overcome first.

Westerns are either hit or miss. Some are great (The Magnificent Seven, The Searchers, Unforgiven, etc.), while others plainly suck. Most modern westerns seem to be 90 minute music videos that use Hong Kong cinema-style action, which has no place in a true western. Was this new 3:10 to Yuma going to be one of those Young Guns / Bad Girls crap westerns?

The cast helped, and they delivered. I believed that Christian Bale was a down-and-out rancher on the edge of ruin. He pulled the role off perfectly, and when the character needed to evolve, Bale did so at the right pace. Russell Crowe was outstanding as the coldblooded killer that must be taken to the train and then to his fate. His character appeared simple at first, but you saw that he was, instead, very complex. I loved Alan Tudyk (of Firefly / Serenity fame) as the veterinarian playing doctor. He was, although predictable, the well timed comic relief that was not comic; the perfect straight man, so to speak. The star of the show, in my opinion, was Ben Foster. He played the angelic mutant named Angel in X-Men: The Last Stand. Here, though, he was nothing even close to angelic. He was a purely evil and wicked gunslinger who acted as Russell Crowe's second-in-command. He had the best scenes, including a really cool disguise scene. The man was awesome!

So, I bet you guessed I loved the movie? Safe bet from the way I have been talking. It had an excellent story (written by Elmore Leonard, whom I am not a fan of). It was well paced. It had an enveloping atmosphere. It had great action. And, most importantly, it had quality characters.

Bring the kids? I wouldn't. Lots of violence. A guy burns to death. There's an operation (late 19th Century style).

Date movie? I think so. The chicks dig Bale and Crowe, so you can't go wrong there. And the things that I would keep the kids away for? Not that bad date-wise.

On a six-shooter scale, one bullet being the worst and six being the best, I give this movie six bullets.

(I bought the original on DVD, so I will let you know how it was as soon as I am done.)