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Death Wish II (1982)

Preceded by: Death Wish (1974)
Succeeded by: Death Wish 3 (1985)

Director:
Michael Winner
COUNTRY
USA
GENRE
Action
NORWEGIAN TITLE
Death Wish II
RUNNING TIME
88 minutes
Producer:
Menahem Golan
Yoram Globus
Screenwriter:
David Engelbach


Cast includes:

CHARACTER ACTOR/ACTRESS RATING
Paul Kersey Charles Bronson ½
Geri Nichols Jill Ireland
Frank Ochoa Vincent Gardenia
New York District Attorney J.D. Cannon
Herman Baldwin Anthony Franciosa
Carol Kersey Robin Sherwood
Cutter Laurence Fishburne III ½
Donald Kay Charles Cyphers
Lt. Mankewicz Ben Frank
Elliot Cass Michael Prince
Charles Wilson / Nirvana Thomas F. Duffy
Stomper Kevyn Major Howard ½

 

Review

Wooden acting, a blatantly biased political agenda, and a series of corny cuts and compositions (especially a number of flashbacks) make this sequel to Death Wish a flawed copycat of the original. And to make things even more ludicrous, Paul Kersey suddenly finds himself bereaved of his loved ones once again – in the most brutal, senseless (and constructed) manner, by a crowd acting and looking like rabid dancers from a contemporary Michael Jackson music video. Needless to say, there aren't any real humans in this story, but the production team of Winner/Globus/Golan don't seem to need any, as long as they've got a handful of shootouts lined up. These offer real blood and some spastic dying, and after a while, the film's drive does get you somewhat caught up in Paul Kersey's one-eye worldview. If in the end you want all those punks dead, I guess you can say the film has succeeded. The abrasive score is by Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page.

Copyright © 05.06.2013 Fredrik Gunerius Fevang

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