Death Sentence (2007)

Nick Hume is a mild-mannered executive with a perfect life, until one gruesome night he witnesses something that changes him forever. Transformed by grief, Hume eventually comes to the disturbing conclusion that no length is too great when protecting his family.

Based on a novel by Brian Garfield, who gave us the original Death Wish, this is the story of a man who loses his mind over the loss of a family member and sets out on a course of violent revenge. Kevin Bacon is Nick Hume; a mild-mannered executive with a loving wife (Kelly Preston) and two great kids living in the suburbs whose only worry in life is where his son is going to go to university. We get to see an opening montage of home videos which sets the scene as we see the boys grow up in a warm and loving environment. Cutting to the next scene, Nick is driving his eldest son home from a school hockey match when they have to stop for petrol. As he fills the tank his son goes inside at the same time as a gang enter the station looking to steal the contents of the till and, as part of an initiation ceremony, kill someone. That someone ends up being his son, in a vicious machete attack.

The gang member is quickly caught, but when it gets to trial Nick realises that his son’s murderer will get off with a very light sentence so he declines to testify and he goes free. Feeling helpless and angry at the situation Nick decides to take matters into his own hands and dish out his own kind of justice. His plan is to kill the guilty party and try and piece together the pieces of his shattered life, but as we all know retribution in the movies rarely runs smooth, and very soon the other gang members are threatening his family.

This is where Death Sentence differs from other revenge thrillers. We are used to seeing the avenging good guy get the better of the baddies and protect all that he holds dear, but not on this occasion. Nick’s initial actions set off a chain of events that spiral out of control until he is no longer the master of his own destiny and his family are in real danger.

Death Sentence got a hard time from critics on release. I’m not going to waste much time on what they said, but dismissing this film as a rip off from movies like Taxi Driver and more obviously Death Wish is ridiculous, there is nothing wrong with paying homage in my opinion. Tarantino admits to stealing ideas from other movies all the time. Death Sentence was written as the sequel to Death Wish, so of course it is going to be similar in tone.

James Wan is on directing duty here, and doest stray far from the source material according to things I’ve read. We are a long time after the Bronson starring movies, but this movie deserves to be seen and admired in its own right. I’m a huge James Wan fan, I love Saw, Insidious and everything he has been involved with pretty much. His style is on full show here. Fast cuts, lots of action, blood, violence, a few Saw easter eggs thrown in, some more blood and using music composed by the Saw composer Charlie Clouser. As good a job as Wan does with this film, there is one moment that stands out, as arguably one of the best scenes I think I have ever seen. At one point we watch Bacon’s character being chased through the streets and then up to the top-level of a car park, resulting in a fight and concluding with a car going off the top of the building. This was all done in one continuous scene, and has to be seen to be believed. It truly is incredible stuff, lasting for around 5 minutes in the movie that leaves the viewers out of breath just watching it. Wan has talent and ambition, and it pays off big time with this scene.

Cast wise, I don’t think I have ever seen Bacon as good as he is here. Whilst he starts as a mild-mannered business guy, with the perfect house and family, and compared to the character you see at the end, the transition is flawless and he deserves so much respect for what he put into this role. Around him, the leader of the gang, Billy Darley (Garrett Hedlund) is perfectly cast and is very easy to despise! John Goodman pops up as an illegal gun dealer and as always brings humour to an otherwise very dark movie.

I’m not even going to go into any negatives really. This is either a film genre you like or don’t like. There are no half measures here. It’s directed by a guy who is not scared to show you violence, and there are no Hollywood happy family moments here once the home videos at the beginning conclude. It’s dark, nasty, full of twists and turns, and ultimately a revenge thriller for adults. It is full of incredible performances, and as I’ve already mentioned includes one of the best one shot tracking scenes I have ever seen. If you don’t like 2 hour revenge films, or gang culture etc then this isn’t for you. For everyone else, Death Sentence comes highly recommended and whilst ‘enjoy‘ may not be the word to use here, and it’s not perfect by any means, it certainly ticks all the boxes I look for in a revenge film.

Posted by Tysoncarter182 on February 9, 2013

https://headinavice.wordpress.com/2013/02/09/movie-review-death-sentence-2007/