Death Wish

After his wife and daughter get attacked in his New York apartment, which leaves his wife dead and his daughter in a catatonic state, Paul Kersey takes it upon himself to rid the city of muggers. In general. He does not try to find the trio of bad guys that actually mugged, hurt and killed his own family. In fact, we never find out whatever happens to them, nor do they ever by accident run into him during their daily muggings and get offed as a consequence. For all we know, they get away with it.

Kersey becomes a fast hero in the crime infested city and gets named the vigilante. The police are slowly edging in on him, but not only do people that get to see his face not want to identify him (on accounts of him saving them), the police commissioner himself is not to keen on catching him. Since he went on his crime fighting spree, muggings have gone way down. The main investigator, who by this time has figured out that Kersey is the man he is looking for, is instructed to 'scare him off'. He isn't supposed to actually catch him but simply make him stop doing what he is doing.

When his reckless going after bad guys, that appear to only ever arm themselves with knife and therefore stand no chance against the vigilante's gun, catches up with him on a much more personal level - he chances upon the one bad guy that actually has a gun - and leaves him in the hospital, injured, the investigating officer visits him and suggest he get out of New York. Permanently.

Kersey heads this advice and moves to....Chicago! Sure, no crimes happening there at all.

Charles Bronson is as wooden as can be, with barely a move of a face muscle. But this is what one expects from the guy, I guess. Along the film, some familiar faces pop up in very, very small roles - Jeff Goldblum (in his first ever feature film as Freak #1, one of the original assailants), Olympia Dukakis (an unnamed cop working the precinct responsible for the case), and Christopher Guest (as a young police officer, who comes upon the scene of the last shooting that leaves Kersey injured).

4/10