Death Wish (2018) * *

Directed by:  Eli Roth

Starring:  Bruce Willis, Vincent D'Onofrio, Elisabeth Shue, Dean Norris, Kimberly Elise, Jack Kesy, Beau Knapp

Death Wish is a remake of the 1974 Charles Bronson film in which an ordinary man transforms into a gun-wielding vigilante after his wife is murdered and his daughter beaten into a coma by thugs.    Bronson played an architect named Paul Kersey, while Bruce Willis plays Chicago surgeon Paul Kersey.   In both films, we see Paul as a devoted family man frustrated by the lack of police progress in finding his wife's killer, so he takes matters into his own hands.    The movie debates the morality and practicality of vigilantism in the form of radio pundits and Shade 45 hosts, but make no mistake, the movie itself is clearly in favor of turning to automatic weapons when all else fails...or at least slows down.

But, then director Roth turns the killings into bloody geekshows and senselessly gives us scenes of a man having his brains splattered after a car collapses on him, another man falling to the ground neck-first, and one man who is shot after a bowling ball drops from a shelf and turns his head and neck into an accordion.    Roth is reverting to his Hostel days, in which we are treated to the most gruesome deaths possible, and then Death Wish just turns into a bloodbath.    Willis, of course, is effective in the role of action hero, and the movie convinces us to a point of Paul's need for vengeance.   Vincent D'Onfrio shows up as Paul's ne'er do well brother in a role which is largely unnecessary, except that he has the thankless task of discovering Paul's new hobby and pleading with him to let the police do their jobs. 

The issue of gun control is brought up in scenes in which Paul wanders into a gun store to buy a weapon, and the sexy girl behind the counter dressed in a low-cut camouflage dress winks when discussing background checks and gun safety classes.    At least the movie understands that gun store owners aren't in the business of controlling anything, but moving merchandise.    How do we expect to curb gun violence if guns are so accessible?   That's another argument for another time.

So, Death Wish is an ably made, if not overly satisfying remake of an original which wasn't exactly crying out to be remade.    Charles Bronson spent the twilight of his long career making five Death Wish movies, four of which were completely redundant sequels.    But since Hollywood seemingly remakes everything these days, it can't be much of a surprise to see a Death Wish remake.    You could do a lot worse than having Willis in the lead role, but let's hope we don't see four more sequels.