3:10 to Yuma: Critic Reviews

A sturdy and enjoyable remake of the 1957 minor classic.

Russell Crowe and Christian Bale are the main reasons to see 3:10 to Yuma, a serviceable addition to the current western revival.

Despite a faintly anti-climactic ending, there's plenty of entertainment in this robust, old-fashioned western tale.

3:10 to Yuma is a drama well worth the journey.

The movie feels like an uneasy combination of new and old western stylings.

Lean, almost absurdly satisfying.

Mangold's remake of 3:10 to Yuma isn't as startling a resurrection job as his Johnny Cash biopic, but it does send a saddlebag full of western tropes skittering into the 21st century.

... gritty, hugely entertaining.

The story is no bigger in the new version, which goes on for 117 minutes. And it's certainly not better.

The best Western since Unforgiven, 3:10 to Yuma is both cathartic and intelligent. While a wildly eventful action-adventure and outlaw shoot-'em-up, it's also a vibrant story of heroism, villainy and hard-earned redemption.

3:10 to Yuma manages to incorporate the rhythms of a contemporary action movie while maintaining a healthy respect for the tenets of the genre. That makes it a train well worth catching.

The tale never quite resonates beyond the screen.

The editing is tense and there's mucho splatter but the climax is unforgivable for reasons I can't spell out -- and owes something to a recent picture I can't name.

James Mangold's movies include Cop Land (1997), Girl, Interrupted (1999), and Walk the Line (2005), and this is by far his most sustained and evocative work.

James Mangold's 3:10 to Yuma restores the wounded heart of the Western and rescues it from the morass of pointless violence.

Those who have a deeper abiding love for the western genre than I, may love the new Yuma. I liked a good deal of it -- just enough to be frustrated by the clutter.

Director James Mangold draws good performances from both leads as they wrestle with the predatory power structure of the old west.

Yields performances as elemental as the landscape while it questions a culture more concerned with money than human life.

One of the great pleasures of westerns is the showcase they offer for character actors, and 3:10 to Yuma has a pair of aces.

It's got old-timey atmosphere with just enough new-age empathy to work. Throw in plenty of gun fighting and two fine actors circling one another with glee, and you've got one hot pistol of a movie.

May not shake all the cowbells off the genre, but it kicks up plenty of dust.

The performances of Mr. Crowe and Mr. Bale alone are worth the price of admission.

Reinforced by a strong central premise, James Mangold's remake walks a fine line in retaining many of the original's qualities while smartly shaking things up a bit.

An extremely well-acted and well-directed remake of a 1957 oater based on a short story by the then-obscure Elmore Leonard.

A period-perfect, witty, well-played and exciting Western is all but ruined in the final minutes by someone the screenwriters, a star who insisted on image-flattering changes, a director feeling his Walk the Line oats.