"Death Wish" delivers exactly what is expected, and sometimes that's enough. In adapting Brian Garfield's 1972 novel—previously made into a 1974 starring vehicle for Charles Bronson that ultimately spawned four sequels—director Eli Roth (2015's "The Green Inferno") and writer Joe Carnahan (2012's "The Grey") have updated the time to the present, the location from New York City to a crime-riddled Chicago, and the lead character's profession from architect to surgeon. The bones of the premise, however, remain the same, taking Bruce Willis' (2017's "Once Upon a Time in Venice") Paul Kersey through hell and back as he experiences a senseless tragedy and opts to take the law into his own hands. The film is bloody and violent, but also carries with it an emotional enough core to make the controversial question it poses—Is vigilante justice ever morally warranted?—worth asking.
As Paul Kersey sees it, he's done everything right: he has a great career, he shares a happy life with wife Lucy (Elisabeth Shue) and teenage daughter Jordan (Camila Morrone), and he's always made sure to follow the letter of the law. None of that matters, though, when a home invasion and robbery turns deadly. Forced to bury one loved one while the other lies comatose in the hospital, a bereft Paul grows increasingly frustrated when it appears the detectives assigned to his case, Kevin Raines (Dean Norris) and Leonore Jackson (Kimberly Elise), are no closer to fingering suspects. Increasingly disenfranchised by a city where nearly 50 shootings occur every weekend, Paul begins packing heat and scoping out lowlifes and criminals, effectively becoming an infamous self-made judge and executioner whom the media dub "The Grim Reaper."
See Dustin Putman, TheFilmFile.com. for full review
