Death Sentence (2007) Cast: Kevin Bacon, Kelly Preston, Garrett Hedlund, John Goodman Kevin Bacon stars as a happy architect (Much like Charles Bronson's Paul Kersey) who lives in a peaceful suburban life until he gets gas in the wrong side of town to which his goldenboy son is killed by a teenager trying to get initiated into a gang, Bacon gets revenge and this leads to all out war against the gang in question. Death Sentence despite getting bad reviews is actually far better than one would expect, indeed it is a simple gritty revenge thriller and on those terms it works for what it is. The movie is a lot like Death Wish, though the main flaw here is that the film doesn't know what to take on the vigilante in question. Brian Garfield the author of the original Death Wish hated Death Wish because Michael Winner was clearly in favor of vigilantism but at the time revenge was a very popular topic at the time and to make a truly effective movie a side of the fence must be taken and to flounder over such questions often trips a movie up and that's why Death Wish is a classic and to this day a very fascinating movie. Indeed it's one of the rare occasions where the movie is better than the book because Death Wish was grittier and worked more as a character study than a simple bloodbath. However Death Sentence doesn't know exactly what stance to take and so it's true to Garfield's politics (Though the movie has nothing to do with the original book.) it asks questions and because of this, it most likely was looked at as pretentious. I however saw Death Sentence as a good example of its kind. Kevin Bacon's final revenge is short but very effective and the ending as well is great in establishing its ideals. However the thing I most appreciated was Bacon's making the choice to get revenge rather than live life out with his other son, because "The scales will never balance" and for this his choice leads him to a fascinating direction of violence. The politics are a double edged sword to the movie because it fascinates you but yet it often gets in the way of the strong narrative told. I mean how many times do we need to be asked question on what would we do, when the movie doesn't itself know what to do. Still the heart of the movie lies in the conflicted hero and in Kevin Bacon he plays the role really well, looking like Michael Dudikoff with a nastier edge, he even looks like a zombie at the end. Indeed The Crow or the underrated Dolph Lundgren Punisher movie had the same type of character and they really do make the best type of vigilantes because when they're psychotic, we tend to sympathize more and like the other two films mentioned, this ends on a downbeat note that is very effective in establishing getting the audience in on the suspense. Perhaps it's not a perfect movie as Death Wish did it the best, The Punisher and The Crow also did it better but I for one was taken aback by the grittiness and conflicted hero that make the action much more effective. In a time when action flicks feature pretty boy heroes who are more in love with the camera than actually saving the day, such a gritty and conflicted hero is needed and I recommend Death Sentence as an effective little vigilante flick and I forgive it for doing too much rather than doing too little. D.James Wan*** |