Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 4038 AMERICAN POLICE BEAT: NOVEMBER 2016 Mag-7 not bad M ostpeopledon’t go to the mov- ies to learn about history or because the director and the actors took the time to learn how people talked way back when. That’s why so much of the criticism of the new Denzel Washington movie is mis- placed. Sometimes people just want to be entertained – and if the good guys win at the end, that’s even better. The Magnificent Seven (star- ring Washington, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D’Onofrio and others) is no High Plains Drifter – the classic Clint Eastwood film with an al- most identical story line. But it’s a really fun way to kill a couple hours. Some might not even think the new movie is as good as the original Magnificent Seven starring Yule Brenner. But in times like these, it’s nice to be able to go to the movies and see the good guys beat the bad guys. Sure, some of the stuff in the movie is a little on the politically correct side. The fact that three of the seven are Native American, Chinese and Mexican seems like a decision made by studio executives to be inclu- sive as opposed to accurate. But the action is awesome, the performances are good and the cinematography is outstanding. Unless you’re a history buff or a huge fan of the original, it’s hard to imag- ine most people won’t be entertained watching The Magnificent Seven. F orget about wasting 20 bucks (God only knows how much it costs to take the whole family) on The Mag- nificent Seven. Take that money that would have been wasted and buy a Blu-ray DVD of the Seven Samurai. You could also just rent High Plains Drifter or the original Mag-7. Is the new Magnificent Seven awful? No, not really. It just feels thin, weak and almost like television. It’s hard to imagine the need for spoiler alerts for a movie that has been made about 20 times over the last century but if you want to be surprised at the end, stop reading this now. Denzel Washington plays a warrant officer turned mer- cenary after he’s hired by a woman whose husband was gunned down in cold blood by crooked cops working for a wealthy robber-baron. He’s got to round up a suicide squad that will be willing to do battle despite the slim chances of anyone making it out alive. Then the rag-tag squad of heroes has to teach the farm- ers and shopkeepers in the town they’re trying to save how to shoot. It’s basically the same plot as Blazing Saddles except there are seven guys instead of just two and almost every- one dies at the end. Is it the worst movie you’ll ever watch? Certainly not. But for all the star power and money they spent mak- ing this thing, it’s amazing it feels so hollow and two- dimensional. That being said, any di- rector that thinks he or she is going to out-do the Seven Samurai is not dealing with reality. That film has no peer. APB has two takes on new Denzel Washington flick On second thought The length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder. – Alfred Hitchcock On Campus • Online • Independent Study • U.S. & International Centers UPPER IOWA UNIVERSITY 800-553-4150 uiu.edu/apb “UIU is military friendly and worked with me so I could use my GI Bill and achieve my lifelong dream of a career in criminal justice.” Mike Starkweather ’16 Criminal Justice - Member, Fraternal Order of Police University Program - Partner, International Union of Police Associations (IUPA) - Partner, FBI National Academy Academic Partnership Program