Death Wish (2018)

the audience applauded

Simply Perfect

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

4.2/5 Fantastic reimagining and honestly more relevant and timely than ever. Insane action sequences full of gritty vengeance/justice served and the best performance from Willis in years. It honestly had way more heart and passion than the great pioneering original and the visceral revenge carried out on the scum was so much sweeter and satisfying. I can honestly say this is Roth's best film so far and he outdid the original which I also love. The camerawork was flawless as well as the powerful soundtrack that elevated the intensity of the brutal sequences. Bruce Willis deserves a ton of credit for phenomenally capturing Paul Kersey's heroic character and Charles Bronson would be proud. If you want to see one of the best action films of the last decade, go watch this awesome film. "If a man wants to protect what's his, he has to do it for himself."

I wanted this to work as a retro 80s style revenge thriller. On the surface, Eli Roth's remake tries to cut all unnecessary frills and go straight for the jugular, but tonally the end product is just flat. The appeal of Death Wish is the cathartic thrill of seeing a beaten down victim vent his fury on a sea of scumbags with aplomb, gusto and cold savagery. But this venture was entirely lacking in aplomb or gusto. And the set action pieces that probably read well in the screenplay were so limp and lifeless in delivery that they could never be described as savage. Bruce Willis can deliver screen presence when it suits him, but for this movie he seemed not to care. And as a result, neither did I.

Another take on the countless other movie scripts of this sort especially the half dozen or so Bronson Death Wish movies done decades ago. Always popular perhaps suggesting the male killing revenge instinct is ever present. Opening scenes of our lead Willis arguing w/another parent during a soccer match over his shouting at refs seemed pointless and a bit misdirected given common at kids games. Anyway, another everyday middle class pillar-of-the-community guy gets a bit vigilante revengeful. Predictably, eventually the cops are sympathetic. Not much acting or intelligent dialogue. If you like bloody bullet holes to the head, etc. then feast on this one. .

The original Death Wish is a classic and still holds up today. The remake was pointless and an insult to the original. Eli Roth couldn't direct a kids play despite riding Tarantinos coat tails for years. Bruce Willis has followed Seagal and Van Damns direct to dvd low rent tripe. Such a shame