Death Wish

(spoiler free)

Long gone are the days where the latest Bruce Willis action film was something to look forward to. A string of phoned in performances from the once very charismatic action star, often occurring in straight to DVD flicks, has given birth to one of the most disappointing downward career spirals for an actor in recent years. If Liam Neeson’s revival in the genre is somewhat of the leading example of how to nail the aged action film, Willis’ more recent outings are the perfect example of how not to. Approaching his latest effort all I knew was that it was directed by Eli Roth and that it was in fact a remake, it was safe to say that the road ahead did not look bright for ‘Death Wish’.

The basic premise for the film is a father/husband taking revenge for an attack on his family after a violent home invasion. It’s nothing particularly ground breaking for the genre and of course the film is itself a remake. However, there’s almost nothing provided for the audience here to even hint at an engaging narrative. The film is almost entirely unsuccessful at establishing any kind of likeability within it’s main characters and the development of Willis’ protagonist is so poorly executed that you’re unlikely to care about any of the unfolding drama. The film attempts to discuss such things as gun violence and vigilante action, and whilst it probably thinks the mere featuring of a narrative debate proves to be a well rounded discussion on the matters it’s really not. The overall narrative presents a rather tasteless attitude towards such issues and offers a rather alarming conclusion, which should create a large degree of disbelief with audiences. I’ll admit that certain aspects of the reactions within the narrative were quite apt, capturing the culture of today’s world in a fairly accurate, and sometimes terrifying, way.

Story set to one side, ‘Death Wish’ sees Bruce Willis gives one of the worst performances of his career. The deceased faces of the goons he dispatches often have more expression in one shot than he manages in the entire film. He’s completely unconvincing in his role as a medical professional and whilst his character’s occupation is important for furthering the narrative he does little to make it seem authentic. His work here has me seriously worried for M. Night Shyamalan’s upcoming ‘Glass’ which he also stars in. Although Willis isn’t entirely to blame. The script gives the cast the tremendously difficult job of trying to make some of the most unnatural dialogue seem in any way plausible, spoiler alert – they don’t succeed. Consequently the film conjures up an unintentionally large amount of humour, but for all the wrong reasons. However, this at least makes it a slightly more watchable movie as other than some shocking moments of violence featured in the action sequences there’s little in the way of entertainment.

‘Death Wish’ would be more at home in the £1 bargain bucket at your local chain supermarket than on the big screen, it certainly doesn’t deserve to take up cinematic space when films like ‘Annihilation’ are being banished to Netflix. As you watch it’s terrible commentary on gun violence develop you’ll be left baffled as to just how this made it through the production and editing stages. The terrible lead performance and lack of any real engagement through it’s story only make it’s tasteless themes all the more noticeable, exposing it’s unintentional comedy all too often to suggest that it’s in any way a credible entry into the action genre.

Written by Hamish Calvert

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Rating – 2/10

Question: What’s your favourite Bruce Willis film of the decade?
(Leave your answers in the comments section below!)

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