Bruce Willis stars in a remake of the crime thriller Death Wish as Dr. Paul Kersey. Dr. Kersey is an experienced trauma surgeon who experiences the aftermath of his city’s violence when arrives into in his ER. This all changes when his wife (Elisabeth Shue) and college-age daughter (Camila Morrone) are viciously attacked in their suburban home. From that day on Dr. Kersey swears revenge against those who have wronged him, and embarks on his own mission for justice.
I went into Death Wish not expecting much, and pretty much got what I expected. Death Wish checks all the boxes for an average action thriller with a mixture of suspenseful and action packed scenes. Willis plays his character well, and once he decides to seek revenge against those who wronged him the movie really picks up. However, the plot is poorly developed, and it seems that the majority of the movie is rushed. Aside from Dr. Kersey, there is little character development of the supporting cast, which makes it hard to really invest in the movie. The story of the film is pretty good but is directed in a way that fails to grab your attention. As a result I spent most of the movie feeling like a passive observer, rather than on the edge of my seat.
The one good thing Death Wish has going is that from a cinematography standpoint the movie is very well made.The film shot in a way that really does a good job of building and adding suspense in many scenes, and also does an adequate job adding intensity to action scenes. Additionally the film also did a really good job of highlighting Chicago’s iconic skyline, and setting the landscape for an urban thriller. The soundtrack is nothing special aside from ACDC’s Back in Black, which signals the turn of Dr. Kersey from average citizen into a gun wielding badass. Other than that Death Wish again was a very average film. It wasn’t horrible but it certainly wasn’t great and was all you could expect of a past his prime Bruce Willis film in 2018.
