Death Wish is a 2018 American vigilante action thriller film directed by Eli Roth and written by Joe Carnahan. It is a remake of the 1974 film of the same name (which originated the Death Wish franchise), based on Brian Garfield’s 1972 novel. The film stars Bruce Willis as Paul Kersey, a Chicago doctor who sets out to get revenge on the men who attacked his family. Vincent D’Onofrio, Elisabeth Shue, Dean Norris, and Kimberly Elise also star.
The film was released in the United States by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and in international markets by Annapurna Pictures on March 2, 2018. It was the first film released by MGM through their joint distribution venture with Annapurna (later rebranded as United Artists Releasing). It received generally negative reviews from film critics, but the reception among general audiences was more positive.
Plot
Paul Kersey (Bruce Willis), a Chicago trauma surgeon, lives with his wife, Lucy (Elisabeth Shue), and daughter, Jordan (Camila Morrone). When the family visits a restaurant with Paul’s brother Frank (Vincent D’Onofrio), a valet named Miguel photographs their home address from their car’s navigation software after hearing about a night they plan to be away from home. However, Paul is called to work that night, and Jordan and Lucy are home when the burglars arrive. The ensuing struggle leaves Lucy dead and Jordan in a coma; one of the burglars is scarred when Lucy and Jordan fight back.
Paul becomes frustrated with the lack of police progress on the case, led by Detectives Kevin Raines (Dean Norris) and Leonore Jackson (Kimberly Elise). After seeing two men harassing a woman, Paul tries to intervene but is beaten up. He visits a gun store, but changes his mind when he learns that a legally purchased weapon can be traced back to him. When a gang member is brought to the hospital and his Glock 17 falls off the gurney, Paul kicks it under the bed, then secretly takes it and practices shooting. He uses the gun to stop a carjacking, a video of which goes viral. During the effort, he cuts his left hand due to improperly handling the gun.
Enjoying his efforts as a vigilante, Paul decides to kill a drug dealer calling himself “the Ice Cream Man” after a young boy comes to the hospital with a gunshot wound in his leg. Paul calmly walks up to the dealer, referring to himself as “his last customer,” and murders him in cold blood.
At the hospital, Paul recognizes a critically injured Miguel, wearing Paul’s watch stolen during the home invasion. Miguel dies and Paul takes his phone, leading him to a liquor store that fences stolen goods. The owner, Ponytail, recognizes Paul and messages one of the burglars, Fish (Jack Kesy), before Paul demands his family’s belongings back at gunpoint. Fish arrives and accidentally kills Ponytail; Fish claims the burglary was done by a mechanic named Joe (Ronnie Gene Blevins) before Paul kills him.
The detectives visit Paul with his stolen ring, recovered at the liquor store. Assured that the ring’s discovery will lead police to the perpetrators, Paul destroys their phones to cover his tracks. Finding Joe at his auto body shop (and recognizing his facial scars from the night of the burglary), Paul tortures him, cutting his sciatic nerve with a scalpel and pouring brake fluid into the wound. Joe divulges that the third burglar Knox (Beau Knapp) shot Lucy, and Paul crushes Joe’s head with the car.
Knox calls Paul, arranging to meet in a nightclub bathroom, where they wound each other. Paul gets away while Knox arrives at the hospital, posing as a bystander and giving the detectives a description of Paul. Arriving home, Paul is confronted by Frank, who was questioned by the detectives (they were looking for a left-handed individual and saw him batting left-handed at a batting cage) and realized Paul is taking his revenge. During the intervention, the hospital calls to tell Paul that Jordan has regained consciousness. Paul simply tells Frank, “it’s over.”
A week later, Paul leaves the hospital with Jordan and encounters Knox in the elevator. Unnerved by the encounter, Paul returns to the gun store to legally purchase weapons to defend his family. Days later, Knox and two accomplices invade Paul’s home at night. Paul glimpses a man running across the lawn and hides Jordan, who calls the police. After killing the accomplices, Paul is ambushed in the basement by Knox, but retrieves an M4 carbine assault rifle from a hidden compartment under a coffee table and shoots Knox dead. The police arrive and Raines accepts Paul’s story, subtly suggesting that Paul end his vigilantism.
Months later, Paul drops off Jordan at NYU. He spots a man stealing a bag from a bellhop, calls out to him, and points at him with a finger gun.
Cast
Bruce Willis as Dr. Paul Kersey
Vincent D’Onofrio as Frank Kersey
Elisabeth Shue as Lucy Kersey
Dean Norris as Detective Kevin Raines
Beau Knapp as Knox
Kimberly Elise as Detective Leonore Jackson
Stephanie Janusauskas as Sophie
Camila Morrone as Jordan Kersey
Jack Kesy as The Fish
Ronnie Gene Blevins as Joe
Len Cariou as Ben
Kirby Bliss Blanton as Bethany
Wendy Crewson as Dr. Jill Klavens
Reviews
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