Predictable, Corny, Stupid

Rating: 1/10 (19 February 2008)

I don't get the hype for this movie, nor do I understand all the acclaim. The acting was OK, but everything else was awful. The story is more full of holes than all of the people shot in the movie combined. There were a lot of really stupid scenes that just didn't make sense. It was boring to watch due the predictability. I've never seen the original, so I was going into this without story background - and yet it didn't take long to find out what would happen at the end.
At the point in the movie where Crowe's character has the inevitable 'change of heart', I was thinking 'don't let that corny, mushy, pathetic speech that Bale's character just spouted be the reason Crowe's character turns' - and, of course, it was. Each should have his man-card revoked purely due to that scene.
So, let's move on to the scenery. One of the things I love most about westerns is the scenery - the huge, wide-open spaces, the mountains, big blue skies (I'm thinking Dances with Wolves or even Tombstone). I guess you could say in this movie it's pretty forgettable, since I saw it yesterday and cannot recall anything that stood out.
Well, some westerns have great music (Last of the Mohicans comes to mind). Again, I saw this movie yesterday and can't recall any music at all. I'm sure it was there, but I can't remember it.
What about interesting side characters? No, not so much. There was very little character development beyond maybe 4 characters, and even the development they had left a lot to be desired.
If you want a good western, see one of the three I mentioned above. They're all much, much better than this failure. Don't waste your time on this one.