Western Fantasy...and not a good one

Rating: 1/10 (13 August 2015)

I know there is supposed to be an element of depth as rancher and father Dan Evans (Christian Bale) struggles to find out what kind of man he is, but the process of how this plays out is just painful. Aside from Bale's performance, the majority of this movie is really just silly in it's ridiculous story execution. Too many elements don't play true to the old west. In this movie the setting of the old west is just that and nothing more; it's a backdrop to a story. But it's not real enough for the environment and place-in-time to be something that really impacts the characters.
As an example, in Tombstone, the atmosphere contributed to the circumstances. The time and place, and the political entanglements, fed directly into what was going on with each of those characters. Conversely, in Yuma, the "Old West" is just a back drop and the setting and characters are worked to fit the twists and turns of the plot. It could easily be told in modern times, or probably any other time.
I do think that the movie could be a lot better if the characters were shaped to behave more like real people from that time. However, as a fun western it is totally understandable that the average movie-goer would enjoy it, but as a well-done western it really is lacking.