Where to watch Death Sentence
4 Stars
With his beloved, high school hockey-star son murdered before his eyes as part of a gang initiation rite, the mild-mannered family man and successful insurance executive, Nick Hume, finds himself losing hope in the justice system. As a result, seething with revenge, Nick buys a long, double-barrelled 12-gauge Rossi Overland shotgun, and summons up the courage to start a war with the hardened criminal, Billy Darley, and his gang of street thugs. But, violence begets violence, and now, there is no turning back. And, one by one, Billy’s henchmen are going to pay in blood. Will Nick be able to recognise himself when the bloodletting is over?
Death Sentence, based on ‘Death Wish’ author Brian Garfield’s novel, is one of the best movies of 2007. This is a spectacularly well-made motion picture. James Wan, who had only done horror films up to this point, proves himself a skilled filmmaker beyond the confines of any one particular genre. With its muscular action set pieces, including a jaw-dropping sequence in a parking garage, Death Sentence is presumably the film that landed James Wan the Furious 7 directing gig.
The later Death Wish sequels turned the series into a punchline for nighttime talk show hosts of that era, which made people forget just how powerful that original film was. Death Sentence shares a similar theme with that 1970s Bronson flick and a visual design that evokes a grimy grindhouse aesthetic, which is also in keeping with the ‘look’ that Michael Winner established in 1974 with the first Death Wish. The casting of Kevin Bacon, who clumsily murders the gang member responsible for killing his kid during an initiation ritual, is perfect. This brings him onto the radar of Garrett Hedlund, who transforms himself into the most menacing screen presence of the year, and the final matchup between the dead-eyed Hedlund and the shaved-bald Kevin Bacon is pure punk cinema. Death Sentence is a sleeper waiting to be rediscovered by cult cinema enthusiasts.
Directed by: James Wan
Written by: Ian Mackenzie Jeffers, Brian Garfield
Starring: Kevin Bacon, John Goodman, Kelly Preston