Once again, we are asked, “How far would you go to protect your family?” in a remake of the 1974 Charles Bronson film, “Death Wish”. Now I will admit I have never seen the original, but I am familiar with the story. Bruce Willis takes the mantle of Paul Kersey, whose family is violently attacked by robbers. When the police don’t seem to take the actions that Kersey feels are necessary to apprehend the assailants, he goes vigilante to serve justice on his own.
Joe Carnahan’s screenplay based on the novel by Brian Garfield and Wendell Mayes’ script from the original are strong, especially for an action movie. Bruce Willis left a little to be desired, as in a few moments it felt more like he was imitating himself as opposed to acting. It was also nice to see Elizabeth Shue and Vincent D’Onofrio together again in a movie that takes place in Chicago, as they did so in the classic ‘80s film “Adventures in Babysitting,” and they even save this film at more than one point with their interactions. If you are a fan of action / vigilante movies you will enjoy this one.