User Reviews

Dr. Paul Kersey is an ER surgeon burning for revenge, to deliver justice for his family's assailants.

Eli Roth's Death Wish is arguably more satisfying than revenge films The Equalizer (2014), Oldboy (2013) and on par with the great stylised John Wick (2014) in term of entertainment. Bruce Willis makes a triumphant return to top form as Paul Kersey in this fitting and timely remake of Death Wish. Willis reminds us he can act and not just turn up, this is a well produced on location feel action, unlike his recent low-par films and cameo-like performances.

Eli Roth offers one of his most conventional Hollywood-like movies to date, but includes his staple gore in a few moments throughout mostly dished out by Willis' slayings and some unconventional use of everyday weapons. The action thriller is fast paced with plenty of shootouts. Likeable Elisabeth Shue is fittingly cast as Kersey's wife, along side Vincent D'Onofrio as his brother. Notable are actors Camila Morrone is as Kersey's daughter and Breaking Bad's Dean Norris is cast as warm Detective Kevin Raines.

From a solid screenplay by Joe Carnahan based on Death Wish (1974) and Brian Garfield's Death Wish novel the film works within its own logic, the doctor come vigilante Willis character has an arc and manhunt aspect where the media debate whether he is a guardian angel or grim reaper gives weight to the intense drama. You could fit on a postage stamp what it has to say about gun crime and it socially sits on the fence, with Roth leaving it for the audience to decide what's right or wrong.

At the end of the day, it's an well made action revenge flick. Overall, one of Willis memorable roles to date, recommended.

I'd heard a lot beforehand about this remake of the Michael Winner/Charles Bronson flick from Eli Roth being really, really bad, but I was delighted to find out that this is actually a really strong film, so my advice is to ignore the naysayers. I believe most of the criticism comes from the fact that audiences have fallen out of love with straight thrillers and now prefer thosefilms with sci-fi or superhero elements. Certainly this is Roth's strongest film since HOSTEL and up there with the quality of the Bronson original.

Bruce Willis is the new lead, appearing to be making an effort for once in his acting. He plays a surgeon who is gradually drawn into a vigilante world after the brutal slaying of his wife during a burglary. The film's first half is all character-based slow burn and surprisingly gripping; action dominates in the second half and it's often gruesome, which comes as no surprise given Roth's horror background. The revenge plot is hackneyed but as satisfying as ever and there's suspense to go with the chaos. The cast is well chosen too, with dogged Dean Norris as the cop and Vincent D'Onofrio relishing the opportunity not to play a bad guy for once.

Horror movie maestro Eli Roth's lukewarm remake of the notorious vigilante thriller "Death Wish," with Bruce Willis taking over the role that elevated Charles Bronson to superstardom in 1974, qualifies as a scrupulously conventional revenge movie. Not only does it wallow in far less violence than the original "Death Wish," but also "A-Team" scribe Joe Carnahan doesn't bring either enough nerve or verve with this white-knuckled, urban melodrama. You would think that seasoned, surefooted filmmakers, like Roth and Carnahan, could have fashioned a remake that could have surpassed its intelligent but raw-edged predecessor. Slipshod, superficial, and surprisingly improbable, this tasteful depiction of organized crime updates the saga of Paul Kersey. Roth and Carnahan have changed the hero's profession from an architect to an emergency room physician. In Brian Garfield's 1972 novel, Kersey was an accountant. Now, they have shifted the setting is crime-riddled Chicago rather than New York City. Apart from preserving the protagonist's name, the about only other thing Roth and Carnahan have retained is the finger pistol that Bronson made at Union Station. Unlike the original "Death Wish," with its cohesive storyline and the Bronson character's well-developed backstory, the new "Death Wish" doesn't dwell much on the backstory of the Willis protagonist with regard to guns.

Anybody who craved the controversial Bronson classic will be disappointed by this pedestrian adaptation. Sixty-two-year-old, chrome-domed Bruce Willis appears twenty years too old to be a Glock-toting, Grim Reaper roaming the lawless streets of the Windy City for degenerates to dispatch without a qualm. Sadly, "Full Metal Jacket's" Vincent D'Onofrio makes mostly small-talk as Kersey's concerned brother, but he doesn't interact meaningfully in Kersey's escapades. The biggest revelation is the unlikely casting of comedian Mike Epps as a decent ER surgeon in a peripheral role. Reviled during its initial release, director Michael Winner's "Death Wish" (1974) emerges by comparison as an artistic artifact of 20-century paranoia. Whether they sought to distance themselves from their predecessor, Roth and Carnahan have changed everything that made the original such a memorable commentary on vigilante violence. Mind you, the four original "Death Wish" sequels were pale imitations of the first film. The new "Death Wish" doesn't generate sufficient charisma to induce a follow-up. Interestingly, despite its glittering aerial camerawork of Chicago, the filmmakers lensed most of the fireworks in Montreal. The violence is gory, but Eli Roth-who helmed the two "Hostel" movies, "Cabin Fever," and "Green Inferno"-soft-pedals the carnage. "Death Wish" never turns into one of his grisly horror movies.

Paul Kersey rotates as a trauma doctor at Chicago's North Hospital. In the first scene, a wounded Chicago patrolman dies before Kersey can save him. The dead cop's partner is incredulous that now Kersey will fight to save the life of the criminal who shot his partner. Like the Charles Bronson hero, the new Paul Kersey has a wife, Lucy Kersey (Elizabeth Shue of "Adventures in Babysitting"), and a daughter, Jordan Kersey (Camila Morrone of "Bukowski"), who has just gotten accepted to a college in New York City. Paul's troubled younger brother, Frank (Vincent D'Onofrio of "Men-In-Black"), dine out to celebrate the occasion. Before the valet brings around Paul's car at the restaurant, he snaps a cell phone photo of the destination on the dashboard GPS of Kersey's car. Later, Lucy and Jordan have just returned after a dinner date that fell through, and they are in the kitchen preparing to make a birthday cake for Paul from scratch. As she is scrutinizing her recipe manual, Lucy notices that a window has been opened. She also spots muddy footprints on the floor. Before either Kersey can react, three assailants in jump suits, baseball caps, and masks surprise them with guns. They take everything of value from Paul's bedroom vault. Snatching a knife, Jordan slashes one assailant's cheek, and violence erupts. The head burglar shoots Lucy, while Jordan is clubbed unconscious. Neither woman is raped as in the 1974 original. Paul learns about the incident while he is on duty. He discovers Jordan is comatose, and then finds his wife's body under a sheet in another ER suite. Naturally, Paul is stunned. Of course, the Chicago police make little progress with its investigation.

One night in the ER, Paul is attending the bloodied body of the valet when he notices his stolen watch on the man's wrist. Paul jars the examination table, and the valet's Glock pistol, obviously overlooked during a search, clatters to the floor! Kersey nudges it with his foot under the bed. Later, he retrieves the Glock, his wristwatch, and locates the dead valet's cell phone in the ambulance. Kersey teaches himself how to handle the Glock. Huddled inconspicuously in a hoodie, he trolls a bad neighborhood and foils a carjacking. During the shootout, the Glock bites him when the slide mangles his hand. Detective Kevin Raines (Dean Norris of "Starship Troopers") take notes. Not only is Kersey an amateur, but he also is a southpaw.

The biggest difference between the original and the remake is the Bruce Willis hero tracks down the three guys. These encounters are suitably violent. Comparatively, Bronson's Kersey never found his three muggers. Willis figures out where these dastards are and dispatches them. Their leader, Knox (Beau Knapp of "Run All Night"), texts him. Knox invites him for a pow-wow on neutral ground at a public night spot. The two men swap lead in a bathroom gunfight. Kersey escapes with a wound. Gradually, the police close in, but Kersey has the last word. "Death Wish" lacks the polish of the original and treats the vigilante issue with little of the depth of the original. Meantime, events conclude on a happier note for Bruce Willis' Paul Kersey. The ironic thing is Kersey defends himself during a home invasion with a fully automatic assault weapon, but the police don't charge him! Eli Roth's "Death Wish" amounts to little more than another standard-issue revenge thriller than a polemic about the evils of vigilantism.

Death Wish is a solid throwback, that unfortunately doesn't delve deep enough into the criminal element.

I was surprised to see Eli Roth directed this film, as this isn't his usual thing. The film doesn't have anything new to offer in the genre, except maybe the social media and radio talk show, which are both negatives. These things nothing more than filler, everybody loves a vigilante taking out scum, it's a stupid question. Action's the film's greatest strength and it thrives in that area, along with Willis's presence, showing he's still capable of commanding the screen. The ending's rather underwhelming though, lacking magnitude or any memorable takeaway.

2018's Death Wish is my latest write-up. It's not a horror film per se despite director Eli Roth at the helm. Yeah Roth occasionally dabbles in torture and stomach-churning gore with "Wish". Still, he crafts an exercise in style that shows sheer, off-genre maturity.

The action sequences in Death Wish are virtual perfection from a storyboard standpoint and the script by Joe Carnahan, well it's diverting and purely machismo. If you live in Chicago like I do (Chi-Town is "Wish's" urban setting), then this flick will give you a perturbed feeling as you exit the theater. With all the school shootings and club shootings that have happened in the U.S. recently, Death Wish may have garnered bad timing with its release. Nevertheless, I'm gonna recommend it because it pretty much eclipses the quality of the original Death Wish vehicle from 1974.

"Wish's" lead is none other than Bruce Willis. After phoning in performances via direct-to-video sludge like The Prince, Precious Cargo, and Acts of Violence, Bruce finally gets to shine here and does so. It feels like forever since he's been on screen at the local multiplex. Roth brings John McClane back from the dead and there can't be anything wrong with that.

Anyway, the story of Death Wish involves Dr. Paul Kersey (Willis). Kersey has a loving wife and a daughter set to attend college. One night while Paul is performing surgery at his resident hospital, some robbers invade his home, kill said wife, and put said daughter in a coma. Because the cops don't dig deep enough into the investigation, Kersey becomes a vigilante and takes the law into his own hands. He vows to catch the scumbags that took his life from him and maybe help others from Chicago's vile criminals bent on ruining society.

In the original Death Wish, the late Charles Bronson played Paul Kersey. He was stone-faced, had a decent screen presence, and blew bad guys away on a dime. Bruce Willis with hoodie and itchy trigger finger in tote, steadily outdoes Bronson in the acting department. He shows added emotion and manages to flesh out his character more. Whereas Bronson came off as a second-tier Steve McQueen in '74's "Wish", Willis does his best work in years. As the king of grimacing while firing an automatic weapon, Bruce is back with a chrome dome noggin and a level of superior badassery.

In conclusion, the one thing the original Death Wish has over the new Death Wish is the jungle-style musical score by Herbie Hancock. Otherwise, this is Eli Roth successfully rebooting the Death Wish franchise with updating, social media outlets and splashy, B-movie residue. Sure his villains lack character development and Roth's overall premise is far-fetched. Nonetheless, Eli portrays the "Windy City" as hell on earth and that supplements his nastily violent vision. They say nothing in life is certain except "death" and taxes. Well you can add solid Death Wish remakes to that list. Rating: 3 stars.

We already know the entire plot before it starts. Bruce Willis takes over for Charles Bronson and don't get attached to his family. They left out the rape scene which made the series somewhat cult/iconic. Willis as Dr. Paul "Lakeshore" Kersey in Chicago, teaches himself how to shoot and goes vigilante eventually finding the culprits. No surprise here. The addition of the Mancow morning show was a plus.

The film was overly predictable and I wouldn't want it any other way.

Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity.

The new Death Wish will and should be compared to the 70's classic original. My comparison of the two. The remake keeps close to the original story, but changed enough to make an upgraded 2010s version. Bruce Willis and the remake's cast perfectly retell a story of the victims of crime and a tragic tale of revenge. The character development is much better in the remake. There is more character development of the Kersey family which creates more sympathy for the Paul Kersey character in the remake. Paul Kersey's brother revels more about Paul's darker sided past, which explains why and how in the latest installment of Death Wish. The family murder scene is not as over excessive as the original, but harder hitting showing the devastating impact on Paul Kersey harder. Death Wish latest installment dives deeper into the story with the collateral damage of Paul Kersey's actions. Overall the actions sequence in both Death Wishes is on par. A gritty violent feel in both matches the 70's story-line. Both, the remake and original are strong revenge stories; I give the remake a grade higher because of better character development despite the fact the Original had a better ending. Worth watching, both Death Wishes have the famous finger pointing end which suggests there could be a part 2.