Film Review: Vigilante Overkill Defines Ultra-Violent ‘Death Wish’

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Average: 5 (1 vote)

CHICAGO – Man, talk about bad timing. With the Stoneman Douglas shootings still making news, America will now entertain itself with a vigilante doctor shooting anything he sees? Yeesh. Bruce Willis is game in the watchable-but-ultra-violent “Death Wish.”

HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 3.0/5.0
Rating: 3.0/5.0

The preview audience I saw it with was obviously itching for some revenge lust, because each of Willis’s quality kills were applauded like a home run. There are plenty of shootings, open wounds, head shots and brain splatterings… the fake blood budget probably equaled Bruce’s paycheck. This is ultimate fantasy, the type that NRA arguments against gun control rely on – that the “good guy” with a gun can overcome all evil others who possess that same weapons. I got news for you, only the movies can get away with it, and “Death Wish” should really be a reminder that ordinary folks with arsenals can snap like a twig at any moment.

Dr. Paul Kersey is a Chicago doctor with the type of perfect family that movies love to exploit, the sparkling Lucy (Elisabeth Shue) as the wife going for her PhD, a college bound daughter named Jordan (Camila Morrone), and a ne’er-do-well brother Frank (Vincent D’Onofrio) to provide some local flavor. Everything about Paul’s life is shattered when burglars kill Lucy and puts Jordan into a coma.

The doctor descends into a kind of madness, motivated by the inability of two Chicago detectives (Dean Norris and Kimberly Elise) to find the killers. Spurred by internet gun videos, Paul begins to train on weaponry, bent on his own vigilante justice. His first kill is captured on viral video, and he is given the nickname “Grim Reaper.” Working outside the law, he gets closer to the actual perpetrators of his wife’s murder.

“Death Wish” opens everywhere on March 2nd. Featuring Bruce Willis, Elisabeth Shue, Vincent D’Onofrio, Camila Morrone, Dean Norris and Kimberly Elise. Screenplay adapted by Joe Carnahan. Directed by Eli Roth. Rated “R”

StarContinue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “Death Wish”

Wish1
Bang Bang: Dr. Paul (Bruce Willis) has a ‘Death Wish’
Photo credit: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

StarContinue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “Death Wish”

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