Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here. I think I missed all the press screenings for this one, and I wasn’t able to make it out to Sunday evening’s nationwide sneak of the film. But I’m glad to see that a few more people decided to write in after getting an early look at James Mangold’s western remake. Here’s the first guy with his take:
Hey Moriarty, if you use this review, call me... ThePunisher. Anyways, I just got out of the advance showing of 3:10 TO YUMA. I got to the theater 45 minutes early and was surprised to find that the movie was almost sold out and there was already a long line to get in. I waited for them to let us in near the entrance to the Halloween remake impatiently as couples and mothers with children as young as 4 years old (wtf?) glanced at the long line and made their way into Halloween. It took them long enough, but they finally let us in 30 minutes before the show started. A few of them looked promising, such as WE OWN THE NIGHT, but some just look like Hollywood's weak effort to stir up a political shitstorm (LIONS BEFORE LAMBS). After about 4 or 5 previews, 3:10 TO YUMA began to roll. It kicks off with a real heart-wrenching scene where Dan Evans (Christian Bale, in top form) awakens to find his creditors burning his barn down, with a promise to torch the rest of it within a week if he doesn't pay up. He tries to reassure his family that he'll fix it, but his kid stabs him in the heart with a zinger no father wants to hear: "No you won't." The next day they're out rounding up their scattered herd and witness a brutal stagecoach robbery led by cutthroat murderer Ben Wade (Russell Crowe, in one of his best performances) and his right-hand man, Charlie Prince (Ben Foster). Wade is a man that is scary in how he can charm your socks off with elloquent speeches, a flashy smile, then when you let your guard down, when you think he's your friend, he strangles you to death before you can react. He shows the audience just how ruthless he is when a desperate guard tries to hold one of his men hostage and Wade shoots them both, his own henchman first. Wade confiscates Evan's horses in front of his sons. Though he returns them, it's made clear early on that Evans looks like a total coward and impotent in the eyes of his family. So when Wade makes a mistake in lingering too long in town and gets himself captured, Evans offers to escort the dangerous man to the train station several day's ride away to where he'll be sent to prison. The acting is top-notch, with fine performances from the two leads, but also from supporting actors such as Peter Fonda, who plays a bounty hunter who is in his own ways every bit as much a murderer as Wade is, and Ben Foster is exceedingly creepy as Charlie Prince, Foster plays Prince on a quiet note and with a sidways smile full of malice. The cinematography is not as beautiful as Kevin Costner's OPEN RANGE, as the film takes place during a drought and in the winter, but the set design is perfect in capturing what towns in the Old West looked like. At a distance, towns look like a collection of unimpressive wooden shacks hastily and clumsily put together, and as much as that sounds like an insult, it's actually a good thing, because that's exactly what towns looked like back then. I could have used more wide-angle shots of the wilds though. The sound is also great in that every gun going off sounds jarring and loud, rather than the muted sounds most action films give them. It works in that it makes the gun fights all the more realistic and gritty. I've heard complaints about the final gun fight towards the end, and all I can say is whoever wrote complained about them must have pretty damn high standards because I thought it was a really good sequence. Perfect? No, but fitting and brutal. I didn't have a whole lot of complaints about the film. I thought it was an amazing western movie, and that's something we could use more of these days. The Western has gone out of style, and while I don't want to see them start getting pumped out of Hollywood like clockwork, it'd be nice to see more of them, especially ones as good as this. - ThePunisher
And this second review seems to basically agree with that first guy, although in slightly more hyperbolic terms:
Hey, guys, i caught a show of 3:10 To Yuma tonite and i thought i would send in my review. First of all, i'm not huge fan of westerns, although i've seen my fair share. But too many times today, we get these Hollywood stylized westerns instead of something great like the old spaghetti westerns of yesteryear. There are some exceptions of course. Unforgiven comes to mind, but anyway, back to the movie. In the words of the great american orator Stifler, this movie "rocks out with its COCK out!" Everything about this movie rocked, but i'll go through them one by one. First the story. I've never seen the original so i dont know how faithful it is, but it is definetly on my must see list now. Basically, Russell Crowe (hereinafter refered to as Gladiator) is a famous outlaw, and Christian Bale (hereinafter refered to as Batman) is the guy thats got to get him to the train to prison. Of course its more complicated than that, but thats the basic premise. Batman plays the tragic hero, whos not quite as heroic as he would like his family to believe. And this shows through his relationship with his son. Gladiator plays the gentlman outlaw, ruthless as any other, but with an odd sense of honor and respect for Batman. The dynamic between these two MAKE the movie. Now the characters. Gladiator knocks this out of the park. Theres a reason this guy has two oscars. This is probably the most charimatic bad guys in film ever and you find yourself rooting for him as much as for the good guys. Theres alot of ways you could fuck up a role like this, but here its spot on. Batman also hits the mark and if this guy doesnt get at least a nomination this year for this or Rescue Dawn then the acadamy can go suck a nut. Suffice it to say, when you get two of the finest actors working today in the same movie, its going to rock. Special mention of Ben Foster as Gladiators second in comand and also fucking insane. Also Peter Fonda is just cool. Now the music. The music made this movie feel like a real western. I was reminded of The Good the Bad and the Ugly. Seriously, it was perfect. Nuff said. Nothing about this movie felt forced or too hollywood. The ending was particularly satisfying. This was a solid return to the way westerns ought to be made. Well that all i got to say, i'm not much of a writer. This movie is highly recommended. If you only ever see one western, watch this one. Thanks for reading, Rasalom79
