Review of Death Wish 3 (1985) by Glenn J — 17 Jan 2008
Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) returns to NYC where he eventually embarks on an all-new rampage that is actually encouraged by frustrated police chief Richard Shriker (Ed Lauter, who had done several pictures with Bronson) to do his thing after legions of greasy psychos are laying waste to the inner city - the primary bad guy is Manny Fraker (Gavan O'Herlihy) and he has a score to settle with Kersey.
More of a straightforward action movie than any sort of message movie or grisly exploitation flick - tons of gunfire, many violent deaths, lots of stunts.The film-makers, in order to make us, the audience, as furious as possible, kill off many of the decent folk in the film. (To that end, I knew it was inevitable that Kathryn Davis (Deborah Raffin), the new obligatory love interest for Kersey, would get offed when she expressed desire to get out of the city.
Typical vigilante picture, no better or worse than most. Writer Don Jakoby (using the pseudonym Michael Edmonds) concocted some of the most god-awful dialog I've ever heard, and plotting is pretty much non-existent. Of course, those of us who enjoy films like this don't watch them for the writing. We watch them hoping for wall-to-wall, over-the-top, in-your-face, violent action scenes, which this film delivers in large doses for its chaotic climax. Kersey shows some ingenuity in this film, booby-trapping apartments so that the bad guys seriously wound themselves trying to enter. You will also see an incredible assortment of weaponry in "Death Wish 3" - much of it ordered through the mail, no less.
The supporting performances by Ed Lauter, Gavan O'Herlihy, and Martin Balsam are reasonably good. If you're curious, you can check out the early appearances by some familiar faces: Alex Winter (a.k.a. "Bill" from the "Bill & Ted" movies), Marina Sirtis (a.k.a. "Troi" from 'Star Trek: The Next Generation') and Ricco Ross ("Aliens", "Wishmaster"). As in the previous movie, the music is composed and performed by Jimmy Page (although I actually liked his score for "Death Wish II" more - it was one of that movie's more worthy components).
It's silly and ridiculous and so bad that its good, but in the end it does deliver the goods for action fans.
This review of Death Wish 3 (1985) was written by Glenn J on 17 Jan 2008.
Death Wish 3 has generally received mixed reviews.
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