Pros:
1. The score, specifically the violin plucking and the acoustic guitar strumming, helps to harden the tension.
2. Russell Crowe (Ben Wade), as a cold, calculating serial killer and Christian Bale (Dan Evans) as a stoic and determined husband and father, deliver fantastic performances.
3. The violence is gritty and uncompromising, particularly as the unwavering close-ups force you to take it all in.
4. The editing adds a lot of vibrancy and kinetic energy to the action scenes.
5. The brilliant costume design mirrors the differing personalities and socio-economic statuses. For example, Ben Wades' illustrates his darkness and proclivity for style and flashiness, whilst Dan Evans' demonstrates his poor, dogged and plain sensibilities.
6. The cinematography, especially for the action scenes, is great. It does a good job of mixing between close-ups and shaky cam to slow and quicken the pace when needed.
Cons: 1. There are a couple plot inconsistencies and illogical happenings: A) In the beginning heist scene, why does Ben Wade send four of his men to die, when he could have just used the cattle - as he ended up doing? B) After the heist, Ben Wade and his gang leave Byron McElroy (Peter Fonda) alive even though it's established that they hate having loose ends. 2. Most of the characters are not well fleshed out at all, so a lot of their deaths feel empty and hollow. 3. The score is at times needlessly overused. 4. The film never explains why Ben Wade was so careless in the beginning by getting himself caught, or why he only tried to escape once on the trek to the 3:10 train to Yuma.
Cons: 1. There are a couple plot inconsistencies and illogical happenings: A) In the beginning heist scene, why does Ben Wade send four of his men to die, when he could have just used the cattle - as he ended up doing? B) After the heist, Ben Wade and his gang leave Byron McElroy (Peter Fonda) alive even though it's established that they hate having loose ends. 2. Most of the characters are not well fleshed out at all, so a lot of their deaths feel empty and hollow. 3. The score is at times needlessly overused. 4. The film never explains why Ben Wade was so careless in the beginning by getting himself caught, or why he only tried to escape once on the trek to the 3:10 train to Yuma.