I love westerns. Something about cowboys just tickles my fancy. I like the clothes, the badass character tropes and the frontier setting. I like the style of westerns with quick zoom ins and wide shots.
The biggest draw to The Harder They Fall was the fact that Idris Elba was in it and he was in the role of the villain. I really like him in the villain role. He was terrifying in the latest Jungle Book reboot and that was just his voice. Here, he was a ruthless outlaw who would shoot a man for questioning him. He was quite badass.
The movie had a stylistic approach to it while the characters were all based on real people (though the events were fictitious). The shooting scenes were a lot of fun. I mean, that’s what we love Westerns for, right? I got giddy when I saw bad guys fly back as they were riddled with bullets while sprays of blood erupted from their bodies. I reminded me a bit of the brilliant, Django Unchained.
The sets were gorgeous, and I laughed at the ‘White Town’ which was a play on words as it was a town full of white folk with all white buildings. I chuckled at the humour.
Though I must say, one actor really stole the show for me and that was LaKeith Stanfield as Cherokee Bill. There was a scene where they bust their leader out of a prison train and throughout the whole scene, he kept his cool while charismatically addressing the civilians. The actor took over every scene he was in and I really enjoyed the character, even though he was a dishonourable bad guy.
This was a good western. It had the traditional characters—the shoot outs and had all the things that make a cowboy story so much fun to watch. If you’re looking for a good time, look up The Harder They Fall on Netflix.
