Review of Death Wish II (1982) by Michael N — 15 Nov 2007

Ok, now this movie is getting a lot of flag. There's a reason why certain movies exist. There was a reason why this smovie was made when it was made; and this has to be borne in mind when watching it. America was riding on the crest of an incredible crime wave with certain areas of LA and NEW YORK being no go areas (the problem still persists). In the context of that and the time this movie was made, it is NOTHING SHORT OF EXCELLENT. No. excellent is not good enough! I'm gonna go as far as saying ONE OF THE GREATEST MOVIES OF ALL TIME. Anyone who doesn't understand that, understand nothing about cinema history. Call it an exploitation movie, B movie or vile violence flick. It is all of these things- but it WAS MEANT TO BE LIKE THAT. For many many Death Wish fans this movie is even better than the first (although the first is, of course, simply the greatest revenge movie in the history of film- ( together with Once upon a time in the West)period !!

The director achieved exactly what he set out to do- to shock and disgust and simply to portray the inner city strife and the kind of things that we all face on a daily basis- unless you live somewhere in the Rocky Mountains and your neighbour is a grizzly bear or something.

Everything about this movie is right. The characters, the flow, the story...the photography is THE BEST I've seen out of approximately 10 000 movies I have wtached. It's so grimy it makes u want to take a shower after watching it, it's so vile it makes you want to clean up the streets of the 'rats' yourself (don't we all?).

Plenty of classic scenes, excellent work..and a true reflection of life in a crime ridden metropolis.

If you watch it with all this in mind, you won't be disappointed. But if you're looking for 'pussy acting' with wimps as 'actors' and a story that may have more twists in it but is unrealistic, then don't bother as you simply won't be able to relate to it. So if you're a posh totty, go watch Hugh Grant.