I've seen this movie twice and I cannot figure out why so many people think it is such a good movie. They must be die-hard Charles Bronson fans who would love any Charles Bronson movie just because it has Charles Bronson in it.
I just don't believe that Bronson played the character of Paul Kersey very well, or he wasn't directed very well (or both). At the scene of his wife's burial he shows no emotion at all. He didn't serve in the military because he was a conscientious objector, and his wife was just brutally murdered in their own home. His daughter was also assaulted and left mentally incapacitated. Yet, he shows no emotion. He handles the whole scene like he is leaving work and telling his co-workers "see you tomorrow". I guess if you are looking for the ultimate Bronson-esquire mental detachment from reality, this is it. Unfortunately, he doesn't even play the scene like he is detached, like he is about to mentally go off the deep end.
He opposed his involvement in the military and he doesn't own a weapon and, presumably, never has. Yet, when he has the first opportunity to fire a weapon he nearly hits the bullseye. Right. It's not like he has natural ability, making a few mistakes and then we see him taking a few weeks to sharpen his skills - no, the first round out of the weapon is ready to kill. At least when this happens in a Schwarzenegger movie, we realize that the movie is poking a little fun at itself and we chuckle a little. There is nothing to chuckle at in this movie. Nothing is tongue-in-cheek in this movie.
During the 1970s the crime rate in New York City was high, but it still wasn't like anything portrayed in this movie. Death Wish would have you believing that in 1974 in NYC that there was a criminal around every corner and on every subway car waiting to pounce on a victim. They would have you believe that 8 out of every 10 citizens were getting mugged. Not only is this not a fact, it's beyond fiction. I realize that the premise of the movie requires crime, but the movie portrays the crime rate so high that you have to wonder why it takes somebody who doesn't own a gun to become a vigilante. If the crime rate were really that high, even for 1974, there would have been hundreds of Bernie Goetz's running around NYC. Paul Kersey wouldn't even have had the opportunity to be a crime victim, much less become a vigilante.
At least they did portray Paul Kersey's first act of vigilantism somewhat realistically. I would believe that Paul Kersey would go home and vomit after hitting a stranger, albeit a criminal, in the skull with 2 rolls of quarters and leaving him for dead. It's a stretch to think that he could be transformed into a vengeful killer without any other thing happening to him (other than being given a weapon to use). His wife was just murdered yet he goes from quarter-roll clubbings to deadly-accurate assaults with a firearm. No further mental transformation was required. Right.
He is also completely detached from his daughter's mental incapacity. There is only one scene where he shows any emotion over her predicament, and it occurs well after her assault and it is displaced. When he is trying to be upbeat to disguise his anger, and then he shows an outburst of anger, the anger and its disguise are just not believable. Death Wish wouldn't pass muster as an average made-for-TV movie. The supporting roles are either played over the top or without sufficient emotion to tell us what they are really thinking. Why don't we see more discussion from the city officials about how to handle the vigilante situation? Oh, right, that would take up valuable screen time for Bronson to randomly murder criminals that he entraps.
I'm really surprised by Roger Ebert's 3-star rating. He must be an avid Charles Bronson fan. This is a poorly made movie.
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