Most reviewers of this movie can’t help but mention gun control in their reviews. We have just had another mass public shooting in yet another gun-free zone, and gun-control advocates say that this isn’t the right time for us to talk about letting people defend themselves? I would have done this movie differently, emphasizing how all the political correctness in Chicago is wasting the time of police officers filling out forms from the ACLU and keeping them from solving crimes such as the one that starts the movie off.
“As subtle as an NRA recruitment video. . . . An old man’s movie, made for even older men — impotent, angry ones.” Roger Moore, Movie Nation
“Death Wish is a poorly timed rebuttal. And a pretty lousy one at that.” Jeffrey Lyles, Lyles’ Movie Files
“‘Death Wish’ Is A Badly Timed Remake . . . . The timing isn’t good, though. Coming out at a moment when the NRA is taking its biggest PR beating ever” — Luke Y. Thompson, Forbes
“It arrives in theaters now, mere weeks after the latest mass shooting, and wants its audience simply to nod vigorously along with every hail of bullets, to cheer every mutilation.” — Glen Weldon, NPR
“Exaggerating its gang-related gun violence until the Windy City starts to resemble the war zone that Donald Trump so desperately wants it to be, Roth uses real-life radio personalities Sway and Mancow to suggest a place on the brink of collapse (showing may be better than telling, but telling is so much cheaper). When Paul falls in love with a handgun and discovers the joys of vigilante justice, the Greek chorus of DJs begins to offer a running commentary on the mysterious hooded man who’s cleaning up the streets on his own terms. . . .
Once again, “Death Wish” is all the more demented (and dangerous) because of how satisfying it can be on a lizard brain level . . . The grossest part of the entire movie are the milliseconds between when you smile at what you’re seeing and when you recoil at what it means. Roth implicates us in the violence to an extent that the original never did, or never could. Paul Kersey used to be such a lone wolf, but these days the whole world seems to have a death wish. That doesn’t make the movie any better; it just makes everything else that much worse.” — David Ehrlich, Indie Wire
A conservative reviewer writes that the movie makes at least some bow to political correctness, though it obviously doesn’t satisfy the critics.
‘Death Wish’ clearly paints Paul as the aggrieved hero, but vigilantism doesn’t come away unscathed. The narrative features talk radio asides about the man dubbed the “Grim Reaper.” Is his killing spree isn’t just another side of the criminal coin?” — Christian Toto HollywoodInToto.com
UPDATE: Some comments on our Facebook page.
Aren’t all of the heroes of most literary works based on fighting against some form of bad guy criminals, whether it be man or government? Isn’t that how we define heroes? Wasn’t Robin Hood killing in the name of righteousness and justice? Even though scripts may get preachy, fictional characters are meant to be entertainment. Is this script any worse than the horror shows that Hollywood can’t stop making for our entertainment? Is sociopath or monster violence worse than gun violence? “Methinks not.”, said the Bard.
Strange as it may seem the Harry Potter movie Order of The Phoenix could have been written for the Second Amendment and Deathly Hallows was about border security.
In Order of The Phoenix Hermione states ‘we must be able to defend ourselves’, after Professor Umbridge’s attempt to stifle their defence against the dark arts lessons. She then talks Harry into training them how to defend themselves. Now just replace the wands for firearms in the real world.
In Deathly Hallows it comes down to border security with castle walls and enchantments to keep evil out.
Its very strange as the author J.K. Rowling has the complete opposite view in the real world.