a review of 猛龙怪客

The last time I saw Death Wish must have been somewhere in the 1980s, when I was still a boy. One of the very few things I could remember of Death Wish is that I wasn't really impressed at the time, because I expected an exciting action thriller. But some movies can turn out to be better than you thought as a kid, because you might have missed things you learn to appreciate as age progresses, such as underlying irony, satire and sarcasm. So in 2017 I revisited Death Wish, featuring the legendary macho actor Charles Bronson, best known from 1960s westerns. In Death Wish, Bronson is an architect who turns into a vigilante after his wife and daughter are assaulted by thugs. Let me start by mentioning that I enjoyed the characteristic 1970s film style, featuring camera zooms, an experimental soundtrack by Herbie Hancock, and lots of 1970s decors and clothing. I could also appreciate the social criticism, mocking the passivity and hypocrisy of law enforcement officials, and the sensationalistic hype generated by the press. On a less enthusiastic note, the direction felt like a collection of story fragments that were taped together in a rush. The timing felt off, there was no build-up of character depth, and the overall acting performances were bad to mediocre, including a hilarious brief appearance of Jeff Goldblum as a young thug. On a scale of one to ten (with ten being the best score), I'd give the credibility of Death Wish a three. As soon as Bronson leaves the door at night, another couple of knife-wielding muggers appear, as if he's trapped in an old school computer game. Despite his lack of gun experience, Bronson doesn't miss a single shot, and his emotional response to the terrible things that happened to his wife and daughter are inappropriately indifferent. Bronson was a cool macho bad guy actor, and not the best choice to play an essentially mild-mannered architect. In conclusion, I'll award Death Wish three out of five stars, regarded in a contemporary context, and considering the fact that Death Wish was a breakthrough film for the one-man revenge genre.