Another month, another remake. This time, it’s Charles Bronson’s iconic Death Wish, with Bruce Willis taking on the lead role of Paul Kersey. An architect living in New York in the 1974 film, Kersey has been transformed into a trauma surgeon living in Chicago. Let’s just get this out of the way – pretty much every medical-related scene is complete BS. Please, Hollywood, if you insist on making your protagonist a medical professional, at least make a minimal effort to create plausible approximations of medical procedures. Suffice it to say that if I’m ever shot, I NEVER want to be taken to Dr. Paul Kersey’s emergency room.

The plot relies a little too heavily on happy coincidences. The right person carrying the right item gets shot at the right time and comes into the right hospital’s ER during Kersey’s shift a little too often to suit me. And the place is quite blasé about patients’ belongings. I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised about that. A hospital that runs emergencies as incompetently as this one does probably wouldn’t have a big problem with staff looting bodies and rummaging through dead patients’ stuff.

The biggest shortcoming in comparison to the original is its minimization of Kersey’s psychological journey. Bronson’s Kersey was a conscientious objector who was finally driven too far. He vomited the first time he killed someone. He was emotionally ripped apart as he transitioned from a man who refused to kill during wartime to a ruthless vigilante. Willis’s Kersey, on the other hand, was a successful guy with a nice life, but he otherwise showed no signs of strong beliefs of any kind. His journey to vigilantism was much shorter and less impactful.

That said, the string of Death Wish sequels was a series of increasingly silly revenge shoot-em-ups, and in that sense, 2018’s film fits right into what the series became. In fact, it played things straighter and was a lot less ridiculous than Death Wish II-V.

The big positive for this film is its unapologetic celebration of self-reliance. The point is made several times that law enforcement only comes after the crime is committed, and you must rely on yourself to survive a violent encounter. The recent unconscionable failures of law enforcement at both the federal and local levels, as well as the sickening cowardice of sheriff’s deputies who hid behind cover while an active shooter murdered school children, make this a tragically timely statement.

In a nutshell, Death Wish has a valuable message, but is otherwise a standard action-revenge movie. There’s plenty of gunfights and property destruction, and it never bogs down or gets dull. It’s not as good as the original, but it’s better than any of the sequels.

Overall rating: 6.5/10