Death Wish, its original film with Charles Bronson, was premiered in 1974 and had controversy afterwards regarding the support of vigilantism and exploitation of its explicit portrayal of the graphic violence, particularly a rape scene. But, the background and depth of Bronson's character is what made the movie feel more realistic and you feel for his pain as he was a combat medic because he was a conscientious objector due to the fact that his father, a hunter, taught him to use weapons. Unfortunately, his father was killed and his mother made him swear to use guns again. It makes sense in that movie even though I was against his approach to handling the situation. This is a carbon copy of the same film with not much impact or emotion and relies on the inconsistent tone and Bruce Willis' one-dimensional performance.
Paul Kersey (Bruce Willis) is a Chicago trauma surgeon that lives with wife, Lucy (Elisabeth Shue), and their daughter, Jordan (Camila Morrone). Jordan has been accepted to her dream school and the Kerseys celebrate. They have lunch with Paul's brother, Frank (Vincent D'Onofrio), who asks Paul for a loan to pay off the debt. Because Paul had to cancel the celebratory dinner to work a night shift, Lucy and Jordan remain a home. However, three masked men break in and take the ladies hostage. Unfortunately, Lucy and Jordan suffer major injuries. And, this is not a spoiler because it is heavily implied in the TV spots and trailer, Lucy dies of massive blood loss and Jordan is in a coma. Paul later meets with Detectives Kevin Raines (Dean Norris) and Leonore Jackson (Kimberley Elise) to launch an investigation. But after seeing thugs threatening people on the streets, Paul takes matters in his own hands and becomes a "savior" to the people and then investigates for himself who killed Lucy and almost killed Jordan.
This is a boring "revenge" movie and I usually like these types of movies a lot. The biggest problem is in its execution because there is a scene involving Vincent D'Onofrios's character telling a valet that Paul has money...why? It is a stupid strategic movie on a screenplay in which a character mindlessly sets up the plot out of nowhere because either they had no plans in its execution or it was lazy storytelling. Why did not Frank tell Paul later that it was his fault? Another problem is that there is an antagonist but we have to wait after an endless series of questions, helping hands and vigilante killings that I felt like I was watching a crossover between Unbreakable (because Bruce Willis is in a hoodie and is titled "The Grim Reaper") and The Equalizer (a solid movie with Denzel Washington).
What does not make sense is a doctor turning into a vigilante. Would he lose his medical license to stop lives on purpose instead of saving lives? What certainly does not help is Willis' terrible performance but he has a few moments of levity where he mourns for his wife and daughter. But, it is like watching a guy looking at a brick wall reciting lines with no emotions and just performs violent acts like it is taken from the Final Destination movies. And, it is a good transition because it is directed by Eli Roth, who specializes in graphic, violent and disturbing movies. I am not particularly a fan of his and this movie was tiresome and confusing because of its tone from violent to dramatic to inexplicably funny to plot holes. The movie is as messy as its unfortunate victims in the hands of Bruce Willis' character.
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