his remake of the 1957 film of the same name should generate moderately good theatrical returns, as it is a good example of the type of psychological Western (i.e., High Noon and Shane) made popular 50 years ago.
The original black-and-white classic was a wonderfully potent psychological showdown about a hard-pressed rancher who takes on the job of trying to put a captured bandit chief (Glenn Ford) on a train to Yuma prison as his gang tries to stop them; this updated testosterone fest still kicks up plenty of dust.

Director James Mangold, best known for his Johnny Cash biopic, Walk the Line, doesn't slavishly copy the original, nor does he update it for modern times. This Yuma is just different enough and still faithful to the Elmore Leonard short story on which both film versions are based.

Russell Crowe and Christian Bale, two very fine actors, are the story's central characters. Taking Glenn Ford's old role, Crowe is the psychopathic stagecoach-robber Ben Wade, the leader of a vicious gang of stagecoach-robbing outlaws. Crowe pumps the character with just the right mix of violent menace and tender intelligence to make the character believably complex.