Spring Break
Wild, Wild, West
Mark Killian
The Daily Gamecock
Issue date: 9/12/07 Section: The Mix
- Page 1 of 1
"3:10 to Yuma"
5 out of 5 Stars
Cowboys and Cowgirls put away your plywood caskets; the Western Movie genre has finally been revived thanks to the remake of the 1957 Country Western Classic "3:10 To Yuma."
"Yuma" tells the honorable tale of a struggling cattle herder by the name of Dan Evans, and his desperation-induced agreement to transport notorious thief and murderer, Ben Wade, to the 3:10 train to Yuma Prison. Left with a wooden foot from a Civil War injury and his relentless desire to provide for his family, Evans and several other men in search of justice and a cash reward embark on a multiple day journey across the Arizona Desert. If the arid conditions were not tough enough, Evans and crew must circumvent Wade's leaderless band of outlaws and the occasional group of Apaches, still resentful about America's Manifest Destiny.
Director James Mangold and his talented cast and crew seamlessly transport viewers back to the good ole times when the man with the fastest gun made the laws and novels only cost a dime.
Unlike the explosion-filled action films viewers have grown accustomed to these days, "3:10 To Yuma" makes little attempt to satisfy your inner pyromaniac. Instead of relying on big budget special effects, Mangold builds suspense through flawless camera positioning. His eye for minimalist action sequences is most apparent during an edge of your seat carriage chase involving nothing more than Wade's band of misfits, an armored stagecoach and a Gatling gun.
When casting a Western film like 3:10 To Yuma, you would imagine American Megastars like Brad Pitt and Matt Damon claiming the lead roles. Instead, casting directors Lisa Beach and Sarah Katzman decided to go the exact opposite route with famed foreigners Christian Bale and Russell Crowe. Once again the Welshman and the Kiwi manage to add one more flawlessly performed fake accent to their résumés.
Bale's depiction of the downtrodden Dan Evans elicits so much empathy; Satan himself would take pity on the regrettable rancher. Although his western accent is spot on, the true power of Bale's performance comes from his body language. No words can express anger as well as the violently bulging vein beneath his right eye, which remains dormant until provoked like a coiled cobra.
Quite contrary to his heroic depiction of Maximus Decimus Meridius in 2000's "Gladiator," Crowe portrays the chillingly evil criminal, Ben Wade. With hands as steady with a drawing pencil as they are with a gun, Wade defines the term "cunning devil." Crowe's confident dialect and charming vocabulary emphasize that fact all the more. Coincidentally, pure evil has not been so perfectly depicted since Christian Bale's performance as soulless stockbroker Patrick Bateman in 2000's "American Psycho."
With technological advancements such as GPS navigation and computer-guided missiles, it is hard to imagine a time when people traveled unsettled lands on horseback and bullets actually stopped once entering human flesh. Although it is set in a time period beyond recollection, "3:10 To Yuma" reminds us of timeless values that should be cherished until the apocalypse.
5 out of 5 Stars
Cowboys and Cowgirls put away your plywood caskets; the Western Movie genre has finally been revived thanks to the remake of the 1957 Country Western Classic "3:10 To Yuma."
"Yuma" tells the honorable tale of a struggling cattle herder by the name of Dan Evans, and his desperation-induced agreement to transport notorious thief and murderer, Ben Wade, to the 3:10 train to Yuma Prison. Left with a wooden foot from a Civil War injury and his relentless desire to provide for his family, Evans and several other men in search of justice and a cash reward embark on a multiple day journey across the Arizona Desert. If the arid conditions were not tough enough, Evans and crew must circumvent Wade's leaderless band of outlaws and the occasional group of Apaches, still resentful about America's Manifest Destiny.
Director James Mangold and his talented cast and crew seamlessly transport viewers back to the good ole times when the man with the fastest gun made the laws and novels only cost a dime.
Unlike the explosion-filled action films viewers have grown accustomed to these days, "3:10 To Yuma" makes little attempt to satisfy your inner pyromaniac. Instead of relying on big budget special effects, Mangold builds suspense through flawless camera positioning. His eye for minimalist action sequences is most apparent during an edge of your seat carriage chase involving nothing more than Wade's band of misfits, an armored stagecoach and a Gatling gun.
When casting a Western film like 3:10 To Yuma, you would imagine American Megastars like Brad Pitt and Matt Damon claiming the lead roles. Instead, casting directors Lisa Beach and Sarah Katzman decided to go the exact opposite route with famed foreigners Christian Bale and Russell Crowe. Once again the Welshman and the Kiwi manage to add one more flawlessly performed fake accent to their résumés.
Bale's depiction of the downtrodden Dan Evans elicits so much empathy; Satan himself would take pity on the regrettable rancher. Although his western accent is spot on, the true power of Bale's performance comes from his body language. No words can express anger as well as the violently bulging vein beneath his right eye, which remains dormant until provoked like a coiled cobra.
Quite contrary to his heroic depiction of Maximus Decimus Meridius in 2000's "Gladiator," Crowe portrays the chillingly evil criminal, Ben Wade. With hands as steady with a drawing pencil as they are with a gun, Wade defines the term "cunning devil." Crowe's confident dialect and charming vocabulary emphasize that fact all the more. Coincidentally, pure evil has not been so perfectly depicted since Christian Bale's performance as soulless stockbroker Patrick Bateman in 2000's "American Psycho."
With technological advancements such as GPS navigation and computer-guided missiles, it is hard to imagine a time when people traveled unsettled lands on horseback and bullets actually stopped once entering human flesh. Although it is set in a time period beyond recollection, "3:10 To Yuma" reminds us of timeless values that should be cherished until the apocalypse.
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