Death Wish

This review may contain spoilers!

If you're hungry for an NRA-friendly film that encourages guns in the home then you might have found the film to tickle your fancy. I would give Death Wish a 2.5/10.

The action within this film was very clever in its design; you really felt like the protagonist was quite fresh to fighting in hand to hand combat and firearms handling. The cinematography used throughout looks sharp, making scenes of home invasion feel very horrific and action sequences incredibly back and forth.

Bruce Willis, who played Paul Kersey, clearly wants to be in this film and therefore suits the leading role; Willis balances a calm, charismatic protagonist with a developing aggression and drive for vengeance/justice. Vincent D'Onofrio, who played Frank Kersey, is quite a kind-hearted and likeable role; D'Onofrio's role has a chequered past which clearly weighs on him and the degree to which he attempts to atone for this throughout is somewhat noble. Stephanie Janusauskas, who played Sophie, immediately feels like she has an emotional stake in the vents of the film as the best friend role; Janusauskas really lends herself to the scene in which she reads to Morrone's comatose role.

However, the best performance came from Dean Norris, who played Detective Kevin Raines. This character was fairly laidback and matter of fact, Norris kept a very grounded air to him throughout his portrayal. This works brilliantly when he has to quite seriously unpack some of the heavy facts about the rate of crime in Chicago. Norris is great at bringing a sense of levity to scenes as well, delivering a comedic line at just the right moment to conclude a scene in a more light-hearted way.

I question a film like this a lot these days; this is a film that should've been delayed in light of the recent shootings in America and its message is frankly quite terrible. Death Wish pushes hard for an America in which every family man wields a gun and takes the law into their own hands. The shift from a calm man of healing to a murderous vigilante is quite sudden and doesn't seem like a smooth transition. There's a lot of advertising throughout for guns and pushing the idea a gun is a necessity within the home which is a grim theme that falls pretty flat. It's unbelievably arrogant of this film to debate it's own theme throughout the film as well; with a very clear bias towards the pro-gun argument. The editing seen throughout is incredibly slow for a film centred around action, more than that this film moves like something that was very basically assembled to rush it out of post-production. The soundtrack for the film really doesn't suit the narrative nor the main protagonist, the use of hip-hop and rap failing to make much effect with Willis' dour expression and mundane character background.

Elisabeth Shue, who played Lucy Kersey, really lacks any chemistry with Willis as the husband and wife couple the film centres itself around; Shue's overtly bubbly personality comes across pretty strong and forced. Camila Morrone, who played Jordan Kersey, really doesn't show much range in this film and gives quite a generic portrayal of a teenage daughter; Morrone sets out to play the goody two shoes victim of the criminal and doesn't strive to present Jordan as an interesting character. Beau Knapp, who played Knox, doesn't feel like much of an antagonist for this feature; Knapp struggles to be intimidating nor does he really feel like he raises the stakes all that much throughout the feature. Kimberly Elise, who played Detective Leonore Jackson, feels like a rather unnecessary role created purely for Norris to bounce dialogue off of; Elise's character is generally pushed to the background unless she's needed to set up a joke for Norris to deliver. Len Cariou, who played Ben, is such an exaggerated role that you can't help but laugh at him when he goes from kindly grandfather to gun-toting defender; Cariou sets up the direction the narrative will take but he really mishandles the delivery of this moment. Kirby Bliss Blanton, who played Bethany, isn't in this film to be anything other than an attractive woman selling guns to middle-aged men; it's a really simple role that has no subtlety to it and is a major low point of the entire feature.