Death Wish (2018) - SPOILER-FREE Review

Editor’s Note: this is an old, unformatted, unedited review. The author’s opinion might not match the original thoughts written in this article.

Directed by: Eli Roth

Written by: Joe Carnahan

Starring: Bruce Willis, Vincent D'Onofrio, Elisabeth Shue, Camila Morrone, Dean Norris, Kimberly Elise

Runtime: 108 min

Dr. Paul Kersey (Bruce Willis) is a surgeon who only sees the aftermath of his city's violence as it's rushed into his ER. When his wife (Elisabeth Shue) and college-age daughter (Camila Morrone) are viciously attacked in their suburban home, Paul, burning for revenge, hunts for his family's assailants to deliver justice.

As the anonymous slayings of criminals grab the media's attention, the city wonders if this deadly avenger is a guardian angel ... or a grim reaper.

I love Bruce Willis. I don't think he is the greatest actor ever but I also don't think he is the worst. I can't really explain why I always seem to enjoy his performances, even when pretty much everyone else is hating him. In the same way that I have "guilty pleasure" movies, I also have that same category when it comes to actors.

That said, Death Wish is not a good film whatsoever. It takes every single cliche in the action genre and literally retells them in a generic and uninspiring way. The action is actually ok for what I expected it to be. It does have its implausible and stupid sequences, where a ton of coincidences need to happen, but I can laugh that stuff off and move on.

Tonally, this movie is everywhere. I don't know if I'm watching a comedy or a drama or an action film. The pacing is poorly balanced and Eli Roth barely moved a finger to save this mess. The story is so unrealistic that it needs an incredible amount of plot devices for it to work minimally. The exposition is so heavy that it really becomes annoying and most of the actions that Willis' character does have such ridiculous reasons, which completely takes me out of the movie.

Honestly, I should hate this more. The more I think about it, the more I notice that I don't enjoy it at all. Since the theater was packed and people were laughing so much, I left thinking "it wasn't that bad", but now I really can't stand going through it again.

Nevertheless, it has its cool action moments and even if it was unintentional, I laughed. If that was due to a genuinely funny scene or due to a serious moment which was so stupid that it became hilarious, I definitely laughed and I can't say I didn't enjoy that.

| A+ : 9.3-10 | A: 8.7-9.2 | A- : 8.0-8.6 | B+ : 7.3-7.9 | B: 6.7-7.2 | B- : 6.0-6.6 || C+ : 5.3-5.9 | C: 4.7-5.2 | C- : 4.0-4.6 | D+ : 3.3-3.9 | D: 2.7-3.2 | D- : 2.0-2.6 | F: 0-1.9 |