Movie Review #36: 3:10 To Yuma (2007)

Another remake this time starring Inspector Javert and Bruce Wayne from the director of Walk the Line. In order for a remake to actually be good, get a well known director and two Oscar winning leads. It worked for True Grit. Hollywood should really know that this is the formula to make a good remake.

3:10 To Yuma is a remake of the 1957 film of the same name. The story is that an outlaw named Ben Wade gets captured and it's up to a posse of lawmen to take him to the train station to get him on the 3:10 to Yuma.

I honestly wasn't expecting much from this. I just wanted to see Christian Bale and Russel Crowe in the west. I actually ended up enjoying this! Bale and Crowe are perhaps what made this movie. Russel Crowe plays Ben Wade and he kills it in this role! This character was tailor made for him. I haven't seen Russel Crowe in a role like this since Gladiator. He's both sinister, evil and charismatic. He was great. Christian Bale was also good. Bale in this movie wasn't like Russel Crowe how it was his role but he was still good. Bale's role would have been great for a more lesser known actor. Like this would be their breakout role. The guy who plays Milton on The Walking Dead is also in this movie and he more or less plays his character in the Walking Dead. So that made me laugh, but he was also good.

The shoot out scenes are also pretty cool. The final chase to get Ben Wade to the train is really well shot and action packed. The ending was a bit of a bummer. It ended on a major down note and even though I expected that it would happen, I didn't want it to.

Final Report: Thanks to the charisma and acting chops of Christian Bale and Russel Crowe, this is another solid western remake.