Review of Death Wish (2018) by Anna E — 10 Mar 2018

As a remake of Charles Bronson's Death wish from the 1970's, this was a lighter, more humorous re-envisioning of the original thanks to Bruce Willis' dry humor which lightened the script. Vigilante justice movies are always edgy, bloody and violent and this movie was no different, but some of the most gruesome scenes weren't when the doctor was committing violence, but when he was cleaning up after somebody else's shootout.

In the background of the movie raged the gun debate. The movie takes place in Chicago, a gun-free zone, and also home of the highest murder rate in the country, especially black-on-black crime. Part of me wishes the part of the doctor had been cast as an African-American. As a "message movie" it was a bit heavy-handed. But it -did- look at both sides of the gun issue fairly and, at the end of the day, pointed out that the police are who responds AFTER the crime has been committed. As much as we might wish it was otherwise, you can't "outsource" your family's safety.

The movie itself was pretty good. Lots of action. Lots of bullets. Lots of bad guys ending up dead. It was kind of a melding of classic Bruce Willis in Die Hard with a bit of Unbreakable thrown in. There were a few points in the movie the doctor made some beginner mistakes that could have gotten himself killed, though at least other characters pointed that out (that he was a fool to think he could just become this vigilante). Not the best movie I've ever seen, I think I would have enjoyed it more without the obvious "message movie" talking heads. But well worth a couple of hours out with the husband.

Ignore the paid anti-gun trolls ... read the reviews, figure out if this is a movie you'll want to see.