Death Wish | Rotten Tomatoes

Death Wish

R

Released Mar 2, 2018

1h 47m

Action

Mystery & Thriller

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List

18%

163 Reviews

Tomatometer

70%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Dr. Paul Kersey is a surgeon who often sees the consequences of the city's violence in the emergency room. When home intruders brutally attack his wife and young daughter, Kersey becomes obsessed with delivering vigilante justice to the perpetrators. As the anonymous slayings grab the media's attention, the public begins to wonder if the deadly avenger is a guardian angel -- or the Grim Reaper itself.

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Critics Consensus

Death Wish is little more than a rote retelling that lacks the grit and conviction of the original -- and also suffers from spectacularly bad timing.

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Rami A

Just a friendly reminder to not remake classic films.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

03/26/24

Full Review

Steve D

Another bad retelling worse than the others.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

11/05/23

Full Review

Adam E

Based on the 1974 film, Death Wish stars Bruce Willis as a surgeon-turned-vigilante looking to avenge/protect his wife and daughter after a brutal burglary. It was directed by Eli Roth and didn't make much of a dent at the box-office upon its release. Although there is always a market for revenge movies, even if those basically tell the exact same story every time, Death Wish still feels like an oddly timed reboot. From the trailers, there didn't seem to be anything all that new or special about this particular retelling. That said, a director like Eli Roth might have been able to introduce a schlocky quality to things, thereby making the film a bit more fun so there was always that chance. Indeed, the film tries some different things here and there, though it remains bogged down by the uninspired premise throughout. We are quickly introduced to Dr. Paul Kersey's (Willis) family and given enough time to enjoy their company before the bad stuff happens. Paul is initially portrayed as a pretty nice guy who doesn't jump into needless confrontations. When his wife is killed and his daughter is seriously hurt then hospitalized, he goes on a revenge mission, learning about guns on the internet along the way. Because, as we all know, there's nothing more entertaining than seeing someone watch YouTube videos.. This is a much dumber movie than it should have been or, dare I say, could have been? There were a couple of ways to go in order to make this an engaging reimagining and the film attempts both, without any real commitment or consistency, making it a bit of a bumpy ride. Approaching this in a serious, gritty way à la Edge Of Darkness or Death Sentence could have been one way to go but Eli Roth only goes there very briefly, when he needs some kind of dramatic moment. You can tell he really wants to go full Grindhouse with this but he stops short of that as well so you end up with an uneven, partly-serious, partly-ridiculous shoulder shrug of a movie when, had it picked a tone, it could have been so much more. The bad guy death scenes are straight out of a cartoon between the Home Alone-style blunders and the goofy gore effects but nothing else in the movie stands out. Bruce Willis gives a reliably not-that-interested performance and the likes of Elisabeth Shue and Vincent D'Onofrio aren't given particularly meaty roles to sink their teeth into. This new Death Wish may not be the worst revenge movie out there but it's certainly not very good. It manages to be watchable but falls flat in every respect. You can tell there's a much better film in there somewhere and, incidentally, it's also called Death Wish. Passable.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

10/21/23

Full Review

zachary w

The message of this movie is what will wake society back up!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/07/23

Full Review

StephenPaul C

The greatest 01 hour: and 47 minutes ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/11/23

Full Review

ZOMBINOX

Love Bruce Willis and really enjoyed this remake. Good action flick!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

10/24/22

Full Review

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Eli Roth

Director

Bruce Willis

Paul Kersey

Vincent D'Onofrio

Frank Kersey

Elisabeth Shue

Lucy Kersey

Camila Morrone

Jordan Kersey

Dean Norris

Detective Kevin Raines

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Death Wish: Official Clip - Gun Training

1:56

Death Wish: Official Clip - Nightclub Shootout

2:26

Death Wish: Official Clip - Killing the Killers

2:57

Death Wish: Official Clip - Jolly Roger's Sporting Goods

2:41

Death Wish: Official Clip - Liquor Store Shootout

2:50

Death Wish: Official Clip - First Kill

2:26

Death Wish: Official Clip - Shooting the Mother & Daughter

2:46

Death Wish: Official Clip - The Break-in

2:03

Death Wish: Official Clip - Crushed by a Car

3:00

Death Wish: Official Clip - The Ice Cream Man

1:39

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Death Wish: Trailer 2

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Death Wish: Trailer 1

2:11

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Ben Sachs

Chicago Reader

The street violence is staged with such disgusting levity that any attempt at thematic complexity seems purely for show.

Mar 9, 2020

Full Review

Tara Brady

Irish Times

While Death Wish doubles as a commercial for the gun lobby, its alt-right posturing is undermined by its uneven, head-scratching tone.

Rated: 2/5

Apr 13, 2018

Full Review

Andrew Lowry

Empire Magazine

This is a film too embarrassed to be what it is. And shorn of capes and costumes, vigilantism is pretty ugly.

Rated: 2/5

Apr 9, 2018

Full Review

Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

The wildly miscalculated release of this film is only matched by its mindless aggression.

Rated: 1/4

Mar 14, 2022

Full Review

Drew Dietsch

FANDOM

A morose and uneventful by-the-numbers remake that doesn't go nearly as far as it needs to.

Rated: 1/5

Dec 29, 2021

Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

The good news: Despite all the worries that this would be nothing more than an alt-right wet dream in which Bruce Willis guns down scores of blacks and Muslims, the film is actually restrained in such matters. The bad news: It still isn't very good.

Rated: 2/4

Aug 10, 2021

Full Review

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Synopsis

Dr. Paul Kersey is a surgeon who often sees the consequences of the city's violence in the emergency room. When home intruders brutally attack his wife and young daughter, Kersey becomes obsessed with delivering vigilante justice to the perpetrators. As the anonymous slayings grab the media's attention, the public begins to wonder if the deadly avenger is a guardian angel -- or the Grim Reaper itself.

Director: Eli Roth
Producer: Ilona Herzberg
Screenwriter: Joe Carnahan
Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Annapurna Pictures
Production Co: Cave 76
Rating: R (Strong Bloody Violence|Language Throughout)
Genre: Action, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 2, 2018, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): May 22, 2018
Box Office (Gross USA): $34.0M
Runtime: 1h 47m
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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