Review of Law Abiding Citizen (2009) by Rajansatish P — 20 Nov 2011

A solid revenge flick. What makes it better than most of its ilk is that it makes quite a powerful statement amidst all the shock value.

A loving father and his family are enjoying life. However, criminals break in, killing his wife and daughter. He wants them to be punished, but through a legal loophole made with his lawyer, one of them is set free off the hook. 10 years later, he concocts an intelligently designed plan to avenge the murders, and proposes an ultimatum to the lawyer: fix the judicial system or allow people to die.

Gerard Butler's acting is amazing, making it his best performance. With tight direction in close quarters, intense set pieces, and some cleverness you wouldn't find in these "mindless" thrillers, this stands head above shoulders. Most of this film is able to generate enough suspense to keep you watching, and is disturbing in its implied use of torture. And it's complete with some sympathy and thematic material that would make you care. It's effective in raising a point about the corruptness of the system as well as the blindness of justice.

However, it's condemned by its asinine plot holes (how does the ending even logically work?!) and Jamie Foxx acting like a douche. *SPOILER* Even though the "lesson" is taught at the end and goes through Foxx's thick skull, it's rather anticlimactic and undoes the purpose that Butler was going for, rendering him to have lost in his scheme *SPOILER* Doesn't help that the other characters could be substituted by cardboard cutouts, and the movie would have no difference.

As an engaging thriller, "Law Abiding Citizen" works overall, even with its easily scrutinable faults. As a vicious and biting look at the judicial system, it's not necessarily that but I see that's what it could've been if the filmmakers prepared it more carefully.