Death Wish V: The Face of Death (1994)

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

The acting in this movie is really good.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

Paul Kersey is back at working vigilante justice when his fiancée, Olivia, has her business threatened by mobsters. Death Wish V: The Face of Death benefits from Charles Bronson's amazing talent but unfortunately that isn't saying much about the film itself. First of all the villains were kind of uninteresting and boring, the kills are few and forgettable and the movie lacks action and good suspense except a few moments like the ending and the attack on the house but overall this is the worst of the 5 movies. (4.9/10)

Charles Bronson is back, in his 70s and whupping criminal behind once more in this, the final entry in the DEATH WISH franchise. While the previous two entries in the series had succumbed to a typical '80s excess of action, focusing on pyrotechnic glory and shoot-outs galore, DEATH WISH V attempts to get things back to their roots by concentrating on a more low-key story of vengeance and battles of minds with the criminal scumbags, who here are Mafia scumbags rather than common street-gang scumbags.The plot is a little more complex than previous entries as this time, Bronson genuinely doesn't want to become a vigilante again. It's only when the police fail time after time to apprehend the villains that he steps into action. The actor looks old, tired and puffy in this sequel, and he's obviously doubled in all of the action sequences, yet he still proves to be the best thing in the movie! Delivering his lines as impassively as ever, there's a twinkle in Bronson's eye that makes him lovable to the viewer and this film serves as a fitting send-off for the late actor – especially the last line, made especially moving when watching it after Bronson's death in 2003.The emphasis isn't on guns this time around – instead, the villains are bumped off using increasingly bizarre methods (not as bizarre as the Van Damme flick SUDDEN DEATH, but close). There's death by poisoned pasta, an acid bath, shrink wrap, and my favourite, an exploding football. All of it is good fun and surprisingly violent. Bronson's presence is also bolstered by a more impressive supporting cast than usual, including Tarantino regular Michael Parks as the utterly slimy, reptilian villain, Brit Lesley-Anne Down as the unfortunate love interest, Saul Rubinek as the ineffectual detective and the always-weird Robert Joy, known for playing dastardly freaks in the likes of THE HILLS HAVE EYES remake, here playing a crazed transvestite killer with a massive quiff. The film moves along at a decent pace and the action scenes are well-handled for the budget. While the script could have been better, all in all the unpleasantness is kept to a minimum and it could have been a lot worse. There's an edge here somewhere, and that makes the DEATH WISH series end with a small bang.

*SPOILERS*SPOILERS*SPOILERS*SPOILERS*SPOILERS*SPOILERS After watching "Death wish 5" I was really sad . How you could turn great and thought provoking original into a mindless franchise – with each next sequel more and more mindless, cheesy and empty ? By greed of course . The story of Paul Kersey didn't really needed a sequel. It was a great stand alone story. I could live with "Death wish" becoming a franchise , if it had at least some quality and ambition. This was not the case here. The sequels fall into cheap B-movie category and give a bad name to the famous original."Death wish 5" was obviously made for money since Bronson's career was pretty much dead at the end of the 80's . His name became associated with cheap and bad action movies made by Cannon pictures , which were full of cheese and violence. "DW 5" wasn't made by Cannon group (which bankrupted) , but unfortunately stays on the same low level as previous movies .There are one good thing I can say about this movie . It's not so dreadfully boring as the forth one , so it's not the worst in the franchise. Also the movie makers were wise enough that Bronson is too old for action hero and came out with plausible methods how he could defeat his enemies.This time Paul Kersey (under different alias , of course) fights not with street punks , but with mob. Well , at least one gangster . Once again his in relationship which isn't one bit believable and once again bad things will happen to those he cares for. At this point he's probably the most unlucky person in the world . I mean seriously 5 revenge movies in a row ?! Allan Goldstein is the director and writer of this one. As a writer he created a story that almost becomes a parody of itself – gangster who likes to dress up like a woman and has problems with dandruff , exploding ball, poisoned pancakes , powerful gangster who rules the fashion world (LOL) , district attorney who is surprised that mob is eavesdropping him. As a director he tries to impress the audience with violence and hardly anything more . Also the way he directs shootouts is terrible – it's hard to find more blind gangsters than here. I mean seriously – look at the ambush in Kersey's house. I didn't know that gangsters have such bad aim that very old Bronson can easily run along the whole house and they aren't able to hit him ! "DW 5" also offers some bad acting . Bronson gives another "just give me the money already" performance and it's obvious he doesn't really wants to be in this movie. The little girl was incredibly annoying , just like the growling gangster near the end of the movie . The rest of actors isn't better either.When Bronson kills the main villain at the end and starts throwing bad one-liners you know that the franchise hit the bottom. From movie asking important questions about justice , law , good and evil to the trashiest and cheapest dumb entertainment – the "Death wish" franchise has missed completely the point of original movie.Watch the original . Avoid the sequels . I give it 1/10.

Charles Bronson is back for the last time as vigilante Paul Kersey. Many years after Part IV, Paul Kersey is now living in the witness protection program(for undisclosed reasons) whose girlfriend(Lesley -Anne Down) is the ex-wife of a powerful mobster, who wants sole custody of their daughter, and retaliates against her, while at the same time trying to expand his empire in New York. Kersey must come out of retirement, and become the famous vigilante again.Charles Bronson is still remarkably game for his age, though looks bored in the film, which, despite some potential, is just tired and uninspired, though Michael Parks is good as the mob leader. Poorly directed , and filmed cheaply, sequel will be an unsatisfying end to the series, though Paul Kersey's last line to a policeman is good, and a nice coda for the character. Charles Bronson's last theatrical film.