Death Wish (2018)

Directed by: Eli Roth | 108 minutes | action, crime | Actors: Bruce Willis, Vincent D’Onofrio, Elisabeth Shue, Camila Morrone, Dean Norris, Beau Knapp, Kimberly Elise, Len Cariou, Jack Kesy, Ronnie Gene Blevins, Kirby Bliss Blanton, Andreas Apergis, Ian Matthews, Wendy Crewson, Warona Setshwaelo , Stephanie Janusauskas, Isaiah Gero-Marsman

In 1974, director Michael Winner’s ‘Death Wish’ starring Charles Bronson hit theaters. This gray revenge film in which a dull bourgeois man turned out to be a grim angel of revenge became a phenomenon. After dozens of sequels, the series ended up in the doldrums. In 2007 James Wan’s very creditable ‘Death Sentence’ was released. This film was also based on a (revenge) story by author Brian Garfield. More than ten years later, the source material is dusted off again. The ideas have run out in Tinseltown, so it’s high time for a remake. Enter ‘Death Wish’.

In ‘Death Wish’, the wife and daughter of surgeon Paul Kersey (Willis) are attacked. Mother dies and her child ends up in a coma. Dad can’t take it anymore. When he thinks the police don’t do enough, he takes matters into his own hands and starts looking for the villains.

Eli Roth was allowed to direct. That sounds nice on paper, but in practice it is disappointing. Not that this American is such a gifted filmmaker, but Roth did show guts in his old work. The notorious ‘Hostel’ was an affair as cool as it was raunchy. Cannibal film ‘The Green Inferno’ combined WTF moments with raw horror and in the hysterical ‘Knock Knock’ he had Roth Keanu Reeves give away a very creditable Nicholas Cage impression (the ‘Free pizza speech’). Whether you think his films are good or bad, you don’t forget them. Unfortunately the downright boring ‘Death Wish’ is not one of them. This nonsense is all your thoughts when the credits come into the picture. Courtesy of Bruce Willis.

The fallen action star grins her way to the finish line and doesn’t even try to make the most of his role. He doesn’t feel like it and shows that through uninspired play. This is a pure money issue. The same goes for the rest of the cast and Roth himself. The action scenes don’t stick, the story is deadly dull and the saltless soundtrack doesn’t make it any better. ‘Death Wish’ is a superfluous movie. In that respect, the title is a self-fulfilling prophecy: there has never been life in this project.