It won't rejuvenate the genre but fans will love it!!

Rating: 8/10 (30 September 2007)

It wasn't until the last three years that I became an enormous Western fan so it was with great excitement that I drooled to see '310 To Yuma' the newest Western to hit the big screens in a long time. Although some reviewers hailed it as the rebirth of the Hollywood Western I won't go that far but for us Western starved fans it fulfilled my quota and there aren't many out there any more. The characters and actors that played them did a magnificent job and director James Mangold knows how to bring a story to life and really get the most out of his characters so that you become completely attached to them as he did with the outstanding Walk The Line as well as other of his films. He has only 7 film credits to his name and almost every one can be heralded as terrific stories. You can just tell he puts his heart and soul into it. Nonetheless he certainly makes sure that everything is in place that you would want from a Western. The villainy and the shootouts, and the small western town, the cattle farmer, the gangs, the sand and tumbleweeds, coach robberies, horses, camping under the stars and the railway. There isn't anything missing and you feel like you're immersed into this world and that is the key to a great Western.
I do like Christian Bale. Please don't anyone think I don't. He has done some terrific work but I'm beginning to feel he might be slightly over rated. I thought his performance in Rescue Dawn (see my review) was ridiculous and over performed and I think I've come to realize he might just be someone who really over acts his roles. In 310 To Yuma he plays down on his luck family man and cattle farmer Dan Evans. He does a decent job but he just seems so hyped up and on edge that it's almost hard to watch him. I mean I understand he is playing a desperate man but still the performance was overdone I thought. Russell Crowe literally steals the show as absolutely notorious villain and killer Ben Wade. Crowe's Wade should probably be considered for Oscar Nominations because his suave, polite, and yet diabolically disturbing performance just draws you in and makes everything worth while. This is truly his best role in a long time!! I would love to see Ben Wade come back in a sequel with Crowe returning to the role. He is brilliant and him and Bale have good chemistry but I think it's more from Crowe's performance than Bale's. Terrific young character actor Ben Foster is Ben Wade's right hand man Charlie Prince. His character could have easily carried the film as the villain and he is just as terrifying in a far less subtle way than Crowe's character. Foster is terrific and I was convinced he would turn on Wade rather than stay loyal to the very end which is part of the irony of the film I think. The infamous in his own right Peter Fonda plays a small yet very important and distinguished role as a bounty hunter of sorts and Wade's long time nemesis. I would have absolutely loved to have seen Fonda and Crowe go head to head more than they did. You could sense the tension and it was terrific. Not to leave the rest of the cast out because they all did their fair share including strong performances from Alan Tudyk, Logan Lerman (was really terrific in his role as Bale's son), and Luce Rains. They all basically supported Bale and Crowe in their respective performances and they were all terrific.
It really boils down to this. If you're a fan of Westerns than 310 To Yuma is really going to impress you because it has everything you could possibly ask for. And if you're not a fan of Westerns you won't like it because it's Western through and through. The story is terrific, the characters are great and it is a film that will likely stick around because I think it's got classic written on it. I have never seen the original 310 To Yuma although I'd like to and I don't know if it was good or not but this remake certainly brings it to a new generation because remake or on it's own it definitely gets it's point across for it's genre. Not life changing but a damn good western. 8.5/10