Death Wish

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Daniel C. M Part melodrama, part detective story, part vigilante-thriller, all perfectly executed. Features both the awesome action and the very realistic social satire, alongside enough motivation and character development, with of course a special highlight for Bronson's amazing performance as Paul Kersey, for those who crave their action movies with a little more brains. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/01/25 Full Review Wayne K A film can often be a victim of circumstance, but it can also benefit from it too, and that would appear to be the case with Michael Winner’s Death Wish. At the time, America was experiencing a spike in violent crimes, something which convinced cinematic legend Stanley Kubrick to flee the county and never return. As a result, a film about a vigilante taking out thugs left and right with little to no consequences was incredibly appealing, with many audience members who had been wronged by criminals or failed by the police wishing they could do the same thing. I suppose you could argue that the film glorifies the concept vigilantism, but it does more to push back on it than your average lone gunman flick. The problem I noticed is that our lead, Paul Kersey, doesn’t really decline into vigilantism, he simply tries it once and falls in love with the idea, which gives the impression that killing is something he’s developed a taste for, and muggers and punks are the easiest and most convenient target because they’re absolutely everywhere. He goes for a quiet stroll at night and they appear from every street corner. But what the film handles so well is its character development. We see a lot of his interactions with his family and colleagues, and witness how his situation has affected his mental state. It’s clear that he’s getting a kick out of what he’s doing, but the film even slyly acknowledges that most people would. It’s exposing an ugly reality of human nature, and while its not an outright condemnation of vigilantism, it’s not a wholesale endorsement of it either. Bronson has had many roles throughout his career, but that of Paul Kersey might be his most iconic, and there’s a very good reason for that. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/18/25 Full Review Shawn R Charles Bronson at his finest! Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 12/01/24 Full Review Bruno V Cine cult. The relentless well directed and scripted film. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 11/29/24 Full Review Liam D The beginning of an increasingly ludicrous franchise and clones. This actually takes its time with the story and the characters plus the theme of vigilanteism Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 10/07/24 Full Review Dana N Another great classic. Very well-done film but I can't say the same for the sequels which are pretty pathetic. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 07/25/24 Full Review Read all reviews

Death Wish

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