Death Wish

The urban vigilante story no longer has the impact it once did, but director Eli Roth's contemporary riff on the notorious 1974 thriller reaffirms its pulp fiction origins and puts the hardcore entertainment value back into the controversy of public paranoia over crime. The world has changed a lot since Brian Garfield's source novel and Roth's efficient exploiter reflects that in its social media and viral video aspects, as Chicago surgeon Bruce Willis (giving an unusually restrained performance) turns into the kill-crazy "Grim Reaper" of media catchphrase after his wife is murdered and daughter left comatose by home invaders. There's no political agenda here, just the usual impotent police and venal drug dealers, fences and punk gangbangers all facing increasing levels of violence. It's contrived for sure, not to mention seedy and bleak, but as in the words of one of its characters, it's also expertly "cocked, locked and ready to rock".