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A New York City architect becomes a one-man vigilante squad after his wife is murdered by street punks; he randomly goes out and kills would-be muggers on the mean streets after dark.
The release of the recent remake finally gave me an excuse to get around to this one. :-) For me, it wasn't the most exciting film to watch. Personally, the 70s is probably my least favourite era of film, because it's the beginning of the time when grisly subjects and especially profanity were starting to become more commonplace, and they hadn't quite perfected it yet.
However, Death Wish does raise questions about dealing with crime that are still relevant today, especially given what made the news earlier this year. (It's not often that you'll hear me get political, but in this case it's kind of unavoidable.) It points out that America was founded on colonisation and war, so asks what's the point of giving guns to civilians in a nation that's become complacent and no longer needs to fight back. It critiques the justice system but also acknowledges the dangers of letting vigilantism go unopposed: anyone's interpretation of danger could be warped. In the end, it's an impasse.
My rating: 60%
