Law Abiding Citizen (2009)

good back-story, and good acting

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Truly a visceral, understandable and emotional movie. Beautifully put together.Except for the ending.Most of us love happy endings. Justice. Judgment. Biblical. Like he said.I would have made this end wonderfully. Not with Statists winning. No. Never.

I have watched a lot of movies recently and nothing drew me in like this. This was brilliant. It was over the top as hell, but who cares. If a man loses his daughter you can nuke the world and be happy. I mean John Wick kills half a city coz his dog got killed and we all cheer.So for all the genius of Clyde, all his planning and meticulous design, he gets thwarted by the most stupid of stupid nothings? They move the bomb to under his bed. The logistics make barely any sense, and his grand finally was a damn bag hidden in plain sight? Seriously? He kills a Judge from a mobile phone probably setup months beforehand, yet he has to break out of prison to do a grade one terrorist bag.Also no-one is happy at the end. What the scum lawyer goes to the recital. We think that makes it all good, that he learned a lesson?If they took this back, made the last 20 minutes a grand finale, where Clyde pulls off something crazy, and then 'usual suspects' go through how he did it, it would be an 8+ star movie. Why do all that to just poop on the screen is beyond me.

Here it is, 'Death Wish 139'! The same ole over-the-top violence (but let's see how much more repugnant nastiness can be crammed into it). From an opening featuring a difficult to watch home invasion and brutal rape/murder - what follows, at times, looks as if it might be heading towards making a statement about a miscarriage of the justice system but, that's as close as it gets. From here, to the ridiculous finish all we are given is totally farfetched foolishness that defies all logic and insults the viewers intelligence. We have the sole survivor of his family's murder unbelievably manipulating the prison system so he can metre out impossible revenge on all who took part on both sides of the law. If that sounds good to you and you are willing to let all semblance of intelligence plunge you into a mental void then you might last to the moronic finale. The audience manipulation begins with the main criminal being written as nastier than the nastiest - just so you will feel good about their hideous death and continues through to those who carry the law to their graves via impossible executions etc. That this slickly produced and acted movie made any money at all is testimony to just how easy it is to fool way too many members of the public. Empire reviewer; Angie Errigo sums it up perfectly. With other IMDb poster; Chromium Five, giving a humorous but bitingly fitting summary. Others simply rave on about this nonsense foolishly.

Short and Simple Review by WubsTheFadgerFirst off, the story is original and at times can be extremely brutal. The story is fast and is extremely entertaining. I found the film to have some very interesting philosophical questions about justice and morality. The ending left me stunned.The acting is very good. Gerard Butler performs incredibly well. Jamie Foxx does a good job but says some lines with a lot of dryness.The pacing is fast. The runtime is a little overlong.Pros: Original and brutal story, good use of gore, stunning ending, interesting philosophical questions asked, fast pacing, and good actingCons: An overlong runtime and some dry actingOverall Rating: 8.0