Death Wish 2 Review

MPAA Rating: R
Released: 1982

The original Death Wish, released in 1974, was a hard-hitting look at the life of Paul Kersey, a bleeding heart liberal whose life was shattered when a band of thugs brutally assaulted and raped his wife and daughter, leaving his wife dead and his daughter in a near comatose state. When the liberal justice system he so passionately believed in let him down, he took it upon himself to rid the streets of New York from the criminal filth that was so pervasive.

Death Wish 2 continues the Kersey saga, offering another heaping of bloody retribution against a new set of criminals that would do harm to his remaining family. While the sequel for the most part offers more of the same, a noticeable transition is taking place with the main character; one that sets the stage for the complete action-packed, fun cheesefests that would later represent the Death Wish series.

Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson), the New York vigilante that lost his wife to a gang of vile rapists, is now trying to pick up the pieces of his life in Los Angeles, California. His architectural business is successful, he has a new girlfriend and although his daughter hasn't recovered from the trauma of her assault in the original film, she's slowly becoming happier and learning to speak again.

As to be expected, this peace is not destined to last. Kersey finds himself the victim of a petty crime when some street punks swipe his wallet, but this is only a light premonition of things to come. The criminal filth, not satisfied with the wallet's contents, decides to escalate their crime to a home invasion. They break into Kersey's home, gang rape his maid and then ambush Kersey and his daughter when they arrive home. As Kersey is viciously beaten and his maid is kicked to death, the punks kidnap his daughter and bring her to their hideout, where they rape her too, thereby causing her to commit suicide.

By this point Kersey has lost all faith in the justice system and offers no cooperation with local law enforcement. He has plans of his own for each of the thugs that assaulted his family… plans that include their premature deaths.

As evident by the plot summary above, this will not be an easy film to swallow for many people. The subject manner is as dark as it comes and the rapes (particularly the first) are depicted in a brutal, exploitive manner. The original Death Wish was criticized for its graphic depiction of rape, but this one was even harsher. (As a side note, if you view the DVD copy of this film the rape sequences won't be nearly as graphic since about five minutes of the movie was chopped off.)

The original film was equal parts action film, drama and social commentary on a justice system that is inherently flawed and soft on criminals. Paul Kersey was a die-hard liberal that did not believe in violence or the death penalty until he discovered that the system he long supported could not truly protect him or society from evildoers. Upon that discovery he decided to take the law into his own hands, but he did not do so happily or comfortably – after his first kill he even vomits at the shock of what he's done. In other words Kersey was a man thrown over the edge, rather than a willing harbinger of destruction.

In Death Wish 2 Kersey is decidedly more calm and proficient in the art of killing. Despite his lack of military training, he's become a force to be reckoned with, though not nearly to the same level of absurdity as later entries in the series. In addition he's not so much a vigilante in this film as he is an avenger. Whereas Kersey targeted criminals that assaulted him or other innocents in the first movie, here he cares only about those that attacked his daughter… other criminals are allowed to do their thing.

If you are a Charles Bronson or vigilante film fan then chances are good you are going to enjoy Death Wish 2. Once the obligatory rapes and cynicism is out of the way, Bronson hunts down his prey, delivering bullets and verbal exchanges as only he could:

Kersey: Do you believe in Jesus?
Rapist: Yes, I do.
Kersey: Well, you're going to meet Him.

Death Wish 2 bridges the gap between the serious nature of the original and the campy fun of the next entry in the series. It's not a great film (though none of the entries in this series could really be qualified as great), but it gets the job done for fans of this type of movie.

Movie rating: 7 stars

If you enjoyed Death Wish 2 you may also find the following films to be of interest:

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Charles Bronson
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