Stupid, brainless fare!

Rating: 3/10 (14 January 2008)

How on earth can anyone like this astoundingly moronic tripe??!! The plot holes are so gaping that stagecoaches can waltz through them.
First of all, let's give 'credit' where it's due. Halsted Welles, Michael Brandt and Derek Haas. These are the three idiots who came up with this retarded script. And since Welles was part of the original as well, there's simply no excuse.
The movie starts off quite promisingly actually, with a nice barnburning and an impressively shot robbery(no pun intended). You start to feel comfortable that this just might be a hassle-free ride with eye-pleasing visuals. But then, slowly but not-so-subtly, the alleged scriptwriters embark on their film-long mission of insulting your intelligence.
Mission Outline-
-Peter Fonda(McElroy) gets shot point-blank in his stomach. Nothing wrong with that, so should've been the scriptwriting trio. But then after a couple of hours and what appeared to be a pinching out of a bullet he's not only up and running, but also fit enough to ride horses through mountainous terrain.
-Russell Crowe plays a brutal, merciless killer albeit with a supposed aura of charm around him. But he must've possessed macaroni for brains as even after knowing almost the precise duration within which his initially misdirected eventual captors would return, he decides to stay back and cool his heels in the middle of a small inhabitation.
-Crowe kills with gay abandon and by using various means to do so. Whether it's by repeatedly stabbing someone in the throat with a small fork, or by shooting someone in the temple or neck, or by throwing someone over a cliff. What do you do with such a man? Christian Bale and Co. show you exactly what to do. 1. Make him have dinner with you in your house sitting right beside your wife and kids. 2. Handcuff him and keep his hands in front of him, rather than behind. And that too, loose enough to let him handle any weapon he pleases. 3. Let him ride on a horse of his own alongside you. 4. When given the choice between risking your own life to save him from some men, one of whose kid-brother he'd killed, and walking away, choose the former. 5. Risk and attain certain death to get him on a train to a prison from which, as he's already told you, he's escaped twice.
-Crowe's posse, led by Ben Foster, ride for miles and miles in intense heat with the single minded pursuit of saving their boss. They face fire and brimstone, eliminate threats on the way, raise a whole town against his captors and during this are also caring enough to give their boss back his favourite hat and gun which he'd lost when he was arrested. So what does Crowe do? He kills his entire posse in flat three seconds. Why? Because he'd forgotten to tell them the fact that he'd actually developed respect and admiration for the man who was holding him hostage and then was loading him up on a train to a prison. Yes, the posse had committed the gaffe of killing that man.
Why have I given this movie even 3 stars? For the brilliant cinematography and the two lead actors who bring at least a semblance of dignity, although in all honesty, the blame should be shared by everyone who consented to be a part of such a project. But don't worry, i still haven't listed all the plot holes. There's still enough left to make it a fun filled sleuthing experience for you. Cheers!