The new Death Wish is apparently coming out November 22nd, and it’s starring Bruce Willis. I say ‘apparently’ because it’s been a troubled project, with multiple directors and whatnot. I also have to wonder: does it make sense to make a movie like that, these days?
I mean, there’s a really easy reason that people argue that the first Death Wish movie resonated with audiences who were sick and tired of rising violent crime rates in America: that argument is largely true. Crime rates were rising, and people were sick of them. I’m not gonna get into this particular topic any further, because it’d be constantly threatening to veer into the territory of Stuff We Don’t Talk About Here Any More, so I’ll go with the aesthetics: I like Bruce Willis just fine, but can he do the same kind of role as Charles Bronson? More to the point, is the man prepared to make a bunch of generally awful sequels? — Because that’s part of the Death Wish movie mystique, too.
Moe Lane
PS: You know what would be an entertaining train wreck, though? A Dirty Harry remake. That is, if you find constant screaming to be entertaining.
I saw DeathWish in the theatre when it came out, and I agree that it was definitely a product of its time.
Now, your question as to whether Willis can do a Bronson role…Hmmm. Good question, Bronson had a certain authenticity beaten into the lines of his face. I don’t know if Bruce Willis can match that.
But the sequels weren’t…no, no, you’re right, They WERE generally awful.
Well, Bloomberd and DeBlasio have certainly done their best…
But a straight remake would be missing the point. I don’t see how it works.
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Now, if writers/director started dragging in politically charged things like MS-13, Black Lives Matter, and other politically protected thugs (maybe with cameos from painted ladies for fanservice), it could work beautifully. Especially in a “we gave them space to destroy” scenario.
But I’d put the odds of Hollywood touching something like that as approaching zero.
“Well, Bloomberd and DeBlasio have certainly done their best…”
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This one is set in Chicago where the crime rate is doing a credible imitation of 70s NYC.
On track to hit 700 murders in 2017 .. forget if Chiraq hit that mark in 2016 or not.
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Stupid metric, of course .. but the media like running their pie holes about it a lot more than, say, this one:
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https://apps.dot.illinois.gov/FatalCrash/Home/CrashData
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Whaddya gonna do?
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Mew
It is made by Eli “The Bear Jew” Roth, so I’m keeping my hope up.
There’s a trailer as well, which makes it look like pretty typical revenge porn fare.
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> is the man prepared to make a bunch of generally awful sequels?
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Ha ha, this is a joke, right? I mean, it’s only been 4 years since the last Die Hard sequel…
I actually AM very certain about the LACK of need for a Death Wish remake. The first one is a laddie. Why mess with success?
Because the residents of the Clintonian Archipelago are feeling the discomfort, and are being fed veiled pro-Law&Order (DIY if needed) pablum to calm ’em ..
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See also the remake of “The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3” .. and I’m waiting for a remake of “Fort Apache, the Bronx”
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It’s the 1970s all over again.
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Mew
Okay, at first I thought this was “Death Note”, not “Death Wish”…
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(which led to the idea of a cross-over or blender version …)
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Mew
I forget who I saw mention it on Twitter, but I think this would probably be better with a less actiony star. “Family got killed and Bruce Willis is the husband?” Yeah, folks kinda expect him to start shooting back. Willis has certain talents, and one of them is shooting folks. But if the husband were Paul Giamatti (ignoring that he was in Shoot ‘Em Up) or say, Simon Helberg from Big Bang Theory, that would work better.