For a Few Dollars More

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⭐9.5/10

The second entry in the dollars trilogy, which I have since learned is not a trilogy at all. I liked the first movie for it's visual flair and amazing music, but was either underwhelmed or straight up baffled by everything else. But this one? I loved everything about this one. 

All the same style is present here. Clint Eastwood is as sexy as ever, and he must have smoked a million cigars in the making of these movies. He's cool, understated, the quickest gun in the west. That outfit is such an all-timer and I'm surprised we don't see more attempts to recreate it.

But in this movie we get two other awesome characters, one being the villain Indio, and the other being the bounty hunter Colonel Mortimer. Both have super engaging backstories that sorta intersect, and both feature awesome performances. Eastwood was awesome, but I kinda felt like this movie is built on these other two. I was especially impressed by Mortimer, who is oddly the same actor that plays the bad guy in the third movie (different character). Here, he says very little but I felt we get a great sense for him throughout, a lot of great non-verbal acting. 

There is a scene at the end that got me to my feet, and was just a reminder of why I love this genre. Just dudes being guys, a contest of masculinity, a scene of breathtaking style. It reminded me of DOOM in a way, a celebration of the genre, a raw combination of cool visuals and badass music with no punches being pulled. It felt like the gold standard for the western, a feeling that every movie since has tried to emulate but fallen short of. 

Next up is The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and I've watched it before but didn't appreciate at the time. I wonder if that will change now. I wasn't expecting to watch these movies this summer but I'm glad I decided to. These are great. And shoutout to "The Prophet" who comes into this movie for 5 minutes and steals the show. Just kinda these awesome, short additions to movies that all classics are incomplete without. 

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