224. Death Wish; movie review

DEATH WISH
Cert 15
107 mins
BBFC advice: Contains strong violence, injury detail

Eli Roth, my least favourite director, and Bruce Willis, one of my least favourite actors, combining to remake a movie which I didn't enjoy much in the first place.
So, the surprise of the year so far was that Death Wish wasn't nearly as bad as I had feared it would be.
Indeed, dare I say that, as it reached its conclusion, I was rooting for dear old Bruce to kill off the bad guys.
I can't remember much of the original Charles Bronson movie but his character, Paul Kelsey, shares his name with the one portrayed by Willis.
The latter plays a surgeon who, outside of work, has a perfect life with his lovely wife (Elizabeth Shue) and beautiful daughter (Camila Morrone).
He is a chap who takes the slings and arrows of life in his stride until something terrible happens and he realises that he needs to take justice into his own hands.
Death Wish is set in modern-day Chicago which is riven by spiralling gun crime.
This means that the new and interesting dimension to the familiar format is the speedy social reaction to a vigilante.
There is gore but not to Roth's usual over-the-top levels and, surprisingly, he allows the imagination to fill in some of his gaps, building tension rather than dissipating it.
Willis, like Bronson, plays a conflicted vigilante, driven by a personal sense of injustice which brings the audience on to his side.
It is brought right up to date but, despite this, there is a clear sense of deja vu which comes with any remake of a well-known film.
I remember Death Wish being quite shocking when it his the screens in the 70s. This new version can't have that gasp factor so Roth has been forced to add different dimensions.
He has made a decent fist of it although I am still not convinced there was a need for a remake.

Reasons to watch: Surprisingly engaging thriller
Reasons to avoid: Cliches do abound

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 6.5/10

Director quote - Eli Roth: "So many of the same problems that were plaguing the country — that crime is out of control and police are overwhelmed and there’s no way to stop it — still feel very relevant today. It feels like however far we’ve gone in other areas, we have not progressed in terms of crime.”

The big question - Was a remake really necessary?

Share this post