Movie Notes: Death Wish
= 3 stars
Starring Charles Bronson, Vincent Gardenia, Hope Lange
Directed by Michael Winner
Synopsis
Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) and wife Joanna (Hope Lange) return to New York following a vacation in Hawaii. Not soon after, Joanna and daughter Carol Anne are brutally attacked in their apartment by three thugs. Traumatized by the experience, Paul goes on a revenge-fueled spree, shooting criminals with a gun he picked up during a business trip to Arizona.
The Good
- Wimmer’s direction; appropriately cold and disturbing in the right places. This New York is paranoid’s nightmare with danger lurking within every shadow, and a sadistic robbery and rape scene is chillingly reminiscent of Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange.
- This crime-filled New York — as lawless as the Wild West — is violent enough that vigilante justice becomes a semi-plausible solution. This parallels the general feeling that the world was going to hell in the seventies and average citizens would be forced into lawlessness in order to survive.
The Bad
- An expected climax never arrives. The three hoodlums that caused all of Paul’s pain are never confronted or shown again. Therefore, all of Paul’s vigilante justice seems more than slightly misguided.
- Paul ridiculously finds hoodlums to attack within a block or two of his apartment nearly every time — they’re conveniently everywhere like pigeons.
Conclusion
Worth a rental to see the origin of the Charles Bronson persona, but little else. I doubt I’ll check out future installments in this series — I think I’ve seen all I need to, here.
IMDB: Death Wish
Wikipedia: Death Wish
Rotten Tomatoes: Death Wish 70%