Haley Bennett's character Emma ended a subversive edge to the 2016 remake of Seven Samurai. This 1954 epic saw a band of seven warriors brought together to defend a poor village from raiders. The 1960 remake brought together a powerhouse cast, including Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, James Coburn, and Charles Bronson, with the setting switched to the old west.
The film became something of an instant classic and was one of the first movies to spawn a long-running franchise. Brynner came back for 1966's Return Of The Magnificent Seven, which was a lukewarm reheat of the first movie. Despite looking nothing like him, George Kennedy took over as Brynner's character Chris for 1969's Guns Of The Magnificent Seven, while the casting musical chairs continued with Lee Van Cleef (Escape From New York) playing the role in The Magnificent Seven Ride, which ended the original movie series. A TV adaptation arrived in 1998 and ran for two seasons, with Michael Biehn and Ron Perlman among the cast.
A suitably epic cast was assembled for 2016's Training Day helmer Antoine Fuqua, who adds a lot more diversity to his line-up of the seven, including a Mexican outlaw, a Korean knife expert and a Comanche warrior. The biggest change-up involves the group being hired by a woman, played by Haley Bennett.
Bennett plays Emma Cullen, whose husband is murdered in The Magnificent Seven's opening by villain Bogue, who is forcing her town to work as slave labor in his mining operation. While not officially part of the titular group, Cullen becomes an indispensable member. While it's clear she's partly motivated by revenge, what she really wants is to save her town and its people from Bogue, and she's willing to risk her life to do it. Unlike other older western films, she's not there to be kidnapped, rescued or avenged, as she's able to shoot a gun and is a key part of the town building its defenses.
When sharpshooter Goodnight Robicheaux (Ethan Hawke) loses his nerve the night before The Magnificent Seven's final battle, Emma steps up to take his place in the fight; she even manages to save Washington's Chisholm in the final shootout. Haley Bennett's Emma was a great, subversive addition to the ensemble, adding a more human touch to the traditional line-up of stoic, badass gunfighters while finding the strength to press ahead through her own fear.
