Movie Review of "Death Wish"

Death Wish is a remake of the popular 1974 flick of the same name starring the late actor Charles Bronson in the lead. Both the movies are inspired by a book written by Brian Garfield. Not often does it happen that a movie’s title corresponds to exactly what watching it makes one feel like. So anyone who is planning to check this one out must consider the name Death Wish as a warning sign.

The movie revolves around a doctor who decides to take revenge on all those who attacked his family brutally. Dr. Paul Kersey (played by Bruce Willis) is living a busy yet content life in the film with his wife Lucy Kersey (played by Elisabeth Shue) and daughter Jordan (played by Camila Morrone) in Chicago. Paul is used to crime victims as a part of his regular life routine in the ER. However, when his own family gets assaulted brutally, his world turns upside down and leaves him distraught. This makes him aching for revenge. On his mission to discover the criminals, Paul releases his rage on not just the ones who hurt him but also on those who wrong others.

Though the story of the movie is straightforward, it is quite predictable and fails to keep the audience engaged throughout. While watching the movie, you would also wonder if the timing of the movie releasing is right at a point when the gun violence is at a high in America. The action sequences in the movie seem a bit sluggish and emotional connect appear quite sketchy. Due to the lack of a robust script, there were also some unintentionally funny scenes in the movie.

Apart from all this, Bruce Willis, in fact, did a decent job in his role of a man avenging his family’s torture’ however it is also true that this isn’t his one of the best performances. Though he showcased a range of emotions- shock, guilt, rage, retribution in the film, despite this, it’s sad to say that the actor has let down by the script here. Frank Kersey (played by Vincent D’Onofrio) has done the role of Paul’s brother in the movie and appears to be the only one who stands out among the supporting cast.

If you are a fan of Bruce Willis and enjoy revenge dramas, then you can surely give this movie a watch.