Raising the vigilante
Kevin Bacon stars in 'Death Sentence,' like 'Death Wish' with 'Taxi Driver' homages
Who doesn't love a good vigilante picture?
"Death Sentence" is a well-made, action-packed revenge drama starring an unlikely tough guy: Kevin Bacon.
Bacon plays Nick Hume, a dorky family man and successful insurance executive. After his son is killed in a gang initiation, Bacon decides against testifying against the young punk responsible once he learns that the killer will likely only spend a few years in prison.
Bacon takes the law into his own hands, setting off a cycle of violence and revenge that puts his family in harm's way.
Kelly Preston, as Bacon's wife, and Jordan Garrett, as his younger son who's always felt overshadowed by his older, now murdered brother, both give great performances.
John Goodman is entertaining and creepy as a gun dealer, and Aisha Tyler is a smart and tough police detective.
Tyler warns Bacon's character about starting a war with this fearsome gang of street toughs, but fortunately for the viewer he doesn't listen.
As the body count increases, so does the question of whether two wrongs make a right. Director James Wan ("Saw," "Saw II") ramps up the energy and the movie becomes more stylized as the subject matter grows darker and darker.
The film has several homages to "Taxi Driver," including Bacon shaving his own head and practicing gunplay, and another that we won't reveal here.
The only annoying thing about the film was that in some places it seemed to try too hard, or exaggerate certain elements.
There's a funeral scene, so of course it's raining; we're dealing with criminals, so of course they all have neck tattoos; and where else would the criminals hang but a trash- and graffiti-strewn, abandoned church?
Overall, the strong screenplay, and a terrific and convincing performance by Bacon as a man hell-bent on revenge, make the movie a success. *
Produced by Karen Elise Baldwin, Howard Baldwin, Ashok Amritraj, directed by James Wan, written by Ian Mackenzie Jeffers, based on the novel by Brian Garfield, music by Charlie Clouser, distributed by 20th Century-Fox.