Director: Eli Roth, MGM & Rialto Distribution, MA, 107 Minutes
It must come as a surprise to many that the 1974 classic crime thriller starring Charles Bronson in the lead role has been remade, this time under the direction of horror filmmaker Eli Roth (‘Knock Knock’).
Bruce Willis (‘Red’) plays the Paul Kersey character but in this rendition he is a highly-regarded trauma surgeon happily married to Lucy (Elizabeth Schue –‘Behaving Badly’) with daughter Jordan (Camila Morrone –‘Bukowski’) preparing to go to college.
That is, until both are violently attacked by intruders in a home invasion resulting in the fatal shooting of his wife and his daughter lying in hospital in a coma.
As the police try to cope with the rising crime rate, Kersey assumes the role of an avenging angel despite receiving assurances from Detective Kevin Raines (Dean Norris –‘Remember’) that he will catch the perpetrators.
To hide his real identity Kersey dons a hooded jumper as he roams the streets of Chicago shooting carjackers and muggers at random handing out his own kind of justice in the hope of finding his family’s attackers.
Playing the role of a vigilante, Kersey soon has his brother Frank (Vincent D’Onofrio –‘Jurassic World’) involved in his secretive (and unlawful) activities with the media even acclaiming him as the Grim Reaper responsible for reducing the crime rate.
By the end of the movie it becomes evident that Kersey’s killing spree has given him the satisfaction he sought by eliminating those tattooed killers that attacked his family, even helping the Chicago police do their job.
Roth’s remake may not appeal to everyone due to the brutality shown in many of the scenes, especially the manner in which Kersey kills his victims, while the style of the storyline lacks the suspense seen in the original.
Even though Willis does his best to play the part as a vigilante, his performance falls far short of Bronson’s brilliant portrayal as an architect and avenging father that eventually spawned three sequels.
In reality, Roth should stick to his horror films as his ‘Death Wish’ reconstruction is sure to fail similar to the remake of ‘The Magnificent Seven’ but should appeal to the National Rifle Association in the USA.
Vic’s Verdict: 2 Stars
