It’s September, which means it’s time for the kids to go back to school, time for the leaves to change color, and time for the vengeful vigilantes to come out and play. Death Sentence is a movie about an ordinary man (Kevin Bacon) who is pushed to limits when he exacts revenge on the gang members who killed his son. It is also the third directorial effort by the young James Wan. (The man who brought us the original SAW and the abysmal Dead Silence) After Dead Silence, I wasn’t so sure if I wanted to go out and spend money on yet another one of his movies in theatres, but after watching Death Sentence I can honestly say that James Wan is on the way to making a great film….he’s just not quite there yet.
THE GOOD:
Two Words. Kevin f*cking Bacon. (Oops! I guess that’s three.) Without the strong presence of such a great actor, Death Sentence would have lost my interest very early on. I felt the unbelievable sadness he carried with him because of the loss of his son, and I felt the uncontrollable rage he let out on the gang members. I was rooting for him, and I wanted the gang members to suffer.
Also, an almost unrecognizable Garrett Hedlund (from Troy and Four Brothers) played a very convincing villain as the gang’s leader. Sure his performance was a bit over the top, (as were most of the performances) but it was perfect for what this movie was trying to be; a gritty throwback grindhouse film.
This movie also has one of the best chase sequences I have EVER seen onscreen. It’s intense and incredibly effective as it is all done in one uninterrupted shot. This scene (as well as its engaging parking lot showdown) will definitely be something Wan will be praised for, for years to come.
THE BAD:
Death Sentence was entertaining for the first two thirds of the movie, but then it made a dramatic turn in the last half hour that made me want to get up and leave the theatre immediately.
After the initial shock, I tried to give the rest of the movie the benefit of the doubt, but it just got worse as it become more over the top and cheesier by the second.
In my opinion, what made the first hour of the film so good was that the audience could actually relate to Nick Hume’s (Kevin Bacon) character and to his awful situation. It’s believable that he would be able to push himself to the limit to avenge and protect his family. But then to make his character rapidly transform into a modern day Rambo in the last half hour was just pushing it. (I can only suspend my disbelief so far.)
Also, because Kevin Bacon is such a great actor, he managed to play the role straight even through the corny and over the top last act. This caused many unintentional laughs in the audience.
Now keep in mind, I wouldn’t be complaining about any of the cons in Death Sentence if it actually was a full-blown throwback to the 80’s vigilante genre. The problem is the film tries to be something so much more than it should be. The tone of the film always changed and it sent me on a tailspin of emotions. It was In The Bedroom meets Death Wish, and the combination does NOT mesh well.
OVERALL:
Death Sentence kicks off with a bang and ends with a whimper due to its lack luster finale. Now don’t get me wrong, I found it very entertaining, (especially the kills) but at the end I was disappointed. Not because the movie sucked, (because it’s far better than the crap I had to endure through this summer) but because it had the potential from being a mediocre film to being a great film. It’s definitely one to catch on DVD, and it’s also definitely an improvement for up and coming director, James Wan. I give this film a rating of 6.5 out of 10
I just saw the movie… I am going to be brief:
1) Kevin Bacon, even with his immense talent, can not make the crap that this movie is smell better.
2) The movie plays on one thing only – bloodlust in the audience. If you aren’t brainlessly chearing to the killing of the gang members, you are laughing your ass off at the complete unbelievability of the movie. The final scene where the cops enter his house and find him bleeding dressed like rambo, the first thing SHE thinks of is to tell him that his son will be ok. What is she, the nurse? The fucker just shot up half the city, shouldn’t he have been arrested like when he first told you he killed a guy? You must be completely immersed in the revenge trip to ignore the madness.
3) The totally untimely and wrong choice of music is likely to make you gag in cramps of laughter.
4) Any attempt at a deeper point in the movie is completely neglected by the sheer retardedness of the premises – gangs are evil, law enforcement and the “system” are useless, while “dad”, who really doesn’t care about anything or anyone but his revenge, is our hero.
I would give this movie -100 out of 10, and that’s being generous.
Worst movie ever. Lost all respect for Kevin Bacon. Poorly acted. Poorly written. Death sentance to brain cell for all who watch it. This flick is a PIECE OF SHIT.
well sry for getting angry about the review, but when people usually have anything bad to say about a film I really love I get offensive, I felt the same when it came down to Lady In The Water and no one seamed to like it except me, not even John did. I dont really care for the other reviewers mainly Ebert & Roeper which only seem to like movies with sub-titles. I was just thinking the review was gonna be better.
Anyways loved your review on Halloween & The thing about the Unrated DVDs. so hope to see some more reviews, you should do video reviews.
Hey Corey,
Sorry you don’t agree with my review…but reviews are subjective….and to be fair, I liked the movie…I just didn’t feel it lived up to its potential, and no offense, this is far from the worst review for this movie. I’ve read some quite BRUTAL reviews for Death Sentence, and compared to them, I was being kind.
To me this is the worst review EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Death Sentence is the best Fucking movie EVER MADE! this film deserves better than this review and deserves better than the attention its getting, forget f-ing Halloween, Death Sentence is the best fil to hit cinemas in a LONG time.
Death Sentence ~ Two Thumbs WAY UP & 10/10
I don’t think that’s fair, Kevin Bacon has been in plenty of…oh wait. Sorry, thought this was another priceless installment of “Forgotten Hottie.”
*Sorry I meeant check out my REVIEW at my site, sorry..:P..*
I thought this film was really great actually (I’m afraid I have to disagree with you Serena to an extent, although I DO aree with some of the things you said. Check out my site by clicking on my name:).
Kevin Bacon was enough for me to give it 4 stars (8 out of 10) easily.
hearing that he turns into a ‘rambo’ actually makes me more interested in this.
I was really disappointed in this movie. Great concept, great actor, but it just didn’t make sense. As much as I enjoyed seeing Kevin Bacon play the tough guy, I didn’t undertand how he could go from nerdy businessman to Jason Bourne that fast. And I totally agree with you on the last half hour… people at the theater were actually laughing towards the end because it was so cheesey.