Way back in the hazy days of 2006, it was announced that Sylvester Stallone would be directing a remake of Charles Bronson’s classic revenge movie Death Wish, presumably stepping into the murderous boots of vigilante Paul Kersey. It was an interesting prospect, but Stallone eventually left the project. There was still life left in the remake though, and in 2012, it was resurrected once again, with Narc, Smoking Aces, and The A-Team’s Joe Carnahan on board to direct. Carnahan eventually departed, and Narcos director Gerado Naranjo cam on board. This, too, fell through, and for a few years, the project wandered aimlessly through Hollywood. It once again reared it’s head earlier this year, with Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado, the directing duo behind the fantastic Israeli comedy horror Big Bad Wolves, being brought on to steer new Paul Kersey, Bruce Willis, on his revenge fuelled killing spree. As is the way with this particular project, Keshales and Papushado eventually parted ways, but, as revealed by The Hollywood Reporter, MGM and Paramount already have their replacement, with the Bear Jew himself, Eli Roth (Hostel), settling into the director’s chair, with Willis still on board.
While vigilante movies have enjoyed a resurgence of late with John Wick, Death Wish (the original, at least) is a completely different animal, glorifying vigilantism in a gritty, almost uncomfortable way. This isn’t head shot city, and there’s no dead dog to subvert the usual tropes, so Roth has a fight on his hands to repackage this for this age’s audience. Hopefully, he won’t channel Hostel and The Green Inferno and just double down on the gore. Knock, Knock saw him try his hand at a thriller, and it worked for the most part, so he might have what it takes here. Bruce Willis, on the other hand, doesn’t fill me with confidence as Kersey. He doesn’t have the intensity of Bronson, and I just see him flashing that cheesy smile when gunning down the bad guys.
While vigilante movies have enjoyed a resurgence of late with John Wick, Death Wish (the original, at least) is a completely different animal, glorifying vigilantism in a gritty, almost uncomfortable way. This isn’t head shot city, and there’s no dead dog to subvert the usual tropes, so Roth has a fight on his hands to repackage this for this age’s audience. Hopefully, he won’t channel Hostel and The Green Inferno and just double down on the gore. Knock, Knock saw him try his hand at a thriller, and it worked for the most part, so he might have what it takes here. Bruce Willis, on the other hand, doesn’t fill me with confidence as Kersey. He doesn’t have the intensity of Bronson, and I just see him flashing that cheesy smile when gunning down the bad guys.
