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There’s been a revival of the vigilante on a revenge quest movies lately which means it must be time to review one of the movies that kicked off the trend. Death Wish is the the book that the movie inherited its title from. And like True Grit before, it also garnered a remake.
The original and remake stay close to the theme of the everyday man sent on a path of retribution against criminals. Bronson is a decent choice for the book’s protagonist who’s supposed to be more of a normal fellow who loses his wife to burglars. This has left him increasingly unhinged and willing to kill anyone who he suspects of crime as the police appear powerless.
The remake has Bruce Willis as a sugeon. Because when you picture a surgeon, you picture the doofus from Hudson Hawk as wielding the scalpel. When the same trauma occurs, he goes out hunting regular criminals until he decides to find those who murdered his wife and kill them.