He's planning to clean up the city. His way! Death Wish II (Michael Winner, 1982)

Let's be honest here. Death Wish II is totaly emptiness. It's a movie completely made to make money, and nothing more. It's an easy paycheck for Charles Bronson - who by then had lost his star power and gotten a bit too old for the box office - and an even easier for director Michael Winner. These facts doesn't mean it's a bad movie, actually the total opposite: I LOVE DEATH WISH II. 

And remember, this is pure and unadultered right-wing propaganda. There's no depth in it, just a message to everyone that EVERYTHING can be solved with a gun. That's also the charm with it, and the rough diamond in the shape of Bronson makes most things worth watching. As usual, in this very odd franchise, Paul Kersey's (Bronson of course) family is in danger. This time his maid gets raped and killed and his severely traumatized daughter kidnapped and then killed in a freak accident. Kersey the avenger wakes up without any hesitation - we never see Bronson mourn or even act really upset over the death of his beloved daughter. He just goes on with his life and kinda forgets the daughter and instead stalks and kills those who killed.

Compared to the first movie he actually finds the guilty hoodlums within days, it seems, and now it's more like a serial killer at work. How he finds them is of course as rare as finding a nail in a haystack, which almost brings Death Wish II into sci-fi territory - it's so unlikely for him to succeed. This makes the movie somewhat more entertaining and the skilled, but very automatic, directing by Winner makes the movie... a winner. At least if you can stand discussions on morality on the level of a retarded monkey. I can. Because it's just a silly, fucking movie.

This is also one very violent flick. Now I saw the slight shorter r-rated version, which misses a few shots of sexual violence. I have the uncut version on DVD, but it's not that important to me. It's still very graphic, sadistic and downright nasty. It's hard to see Kersey as a hero because he just shoots people in the back or executes them, and not in a cool action-packed way like The Punisher. All the action is very well staged and very bloody. Winner, who's always been a director who never shyed away from details, uses his set-ups to the max. I wonder if he, like he did in many of his other movies, used real people on the street as extras? Sometimes it feels so. There's a documentary style here and there, just small fragments. But it wouldn't surprise me if those are guerilla shots from the streets of LA...

I would never recommend Death Wish II to my mother. That's for sure. I wouldn't recommend it to newly born again geeks who wants to explore the outer regions for b-movie heaven. But I'll recommend it to anyone who's smart enough to not be a wacko right-winger and who can see that Kersey isn't a hero. He's just a simple murdered. Somehow I actually think that was the point in the making of the movie. But it got lost in the craziness of Winner and the take-the-paycheck-and-run attitude of Bronson. 

Death Wish II is a masterpiece of fucked-up, tacky genre cinema. I love it.

Comments

[Megatron]

"Let's be honest here. Death Wish II is totaly emptiness. It's a movie completely made to make money, and nothing more."

I think only seen the first one.

And that movie really downplayed its more, darker, complex issues it was adressing, the 2nd amendment which gives every US citizen the right to bear arms, vigilante justice etc.

Also some critics in Sweden claim that the book had more depth.

But I haven´t read the book.

"And remember, this is pure and unadultered right-wing propaganda. There's no depth in it, just a message to everyone that EVERYTHING can be solved with a gun. That's also the charm with it, and the rough diamond in the shape of Bronson makes most things worth watching."

Yeah, some of these films can be very entertaining like The Green Berets (1968), Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) and the glorious third installment Rambo III(1988), The Delta Force (1986), lets not forget The Substitute(1996) and it´s sequels.

But to some people, these films reflect their own opinions.....just like the Wallander & Beck franchises here in Sweden.

It´s scary.....but they are entertaining.

"This makes the movie somewhat more entertaining and the skilled, but very automatic, directing by Winner makes the movie... a winner. At least if you can stand discussions on morality on the level of a retarded monkey. I can. Because it's just a silly, fucking movie."

Well, hell.....if you want discussions about morality, cause and effect, watch something else.....I would love a review of The Brave One (2007).....uneven, flawed but wants to discuss those issues.

"This is also one very violent flick. Now I saw the slight shorter r-rated version, which misses a few shots of sexual violence. I have the uncut version on DVD, but it's not that important to me. It's still very graphic, sadistic and downright nasty. It's hard to see Kersey as a hero because he just shoots people in the back or executes them, and not in a cool action-packed way like The Punisher. All the action is very well staged and very bloody. Winner, who's always been a director who never shyed away from details, uses his set-ups to the max."

I wonder if this was a trick by Winner.....?

Tired and angry over some popcorn vigilante crap he has to do to pay rent, he decides to fill it to the brim with violence......see....hero is no different from the bad guys...?

And Winner shows this by using excessive amounts of violence.

Of course I haven´t seen it....just speculating.

"I wonder if he, like he did in many of his other movies, used real people on the street as extras? Sometimes it feels so. There's a documentary style here and there, just small fragments. But it wouldn't surprise me if those are guerilla shots from the streets of LA..."

Could be....lowbudget, no time or money to close down streets and whatnot.

Larry Cohens entry into blaxploitation is filled with this stuff....look at Black Caesar(1973), Hell Up in Harlem(1973) and other stuff he did.

"But I'll recommend it to anyone who's smart enough to not be a wacko right-winger and who can see that Kersey isn't a hero. He's just a simple murdered. Somehow I actually think that was the point in the making of the movie. But it got lost in the craziness of Winner and the take-the-paycheck-and-run attitude of Bronson.

Death Wish II is a masterpiece of fucked-up, tacky genre cinema. I love it."

Well....I need to get my priorities in order and complete the franchise.

Great review and thanks.

[gk]

I find myself agreeing with every point you make. Very good review.