Ten Stars or Less

I may never fully understand why, but Death Wish III was my grandmother’s favourite movie. She would watch this movie all the time while I was growing up, and I never fully understood what was going on. Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) is arrested, let go, working for the cops, working on his own, killing gang members, and fighting to defend people he doesn’t know with one gun. I get this guy was vigilante in New York and Chicago, but revenge for his fallen family members was his motivation. Now because a friend dies, he blows up an entire neighbourhood to kill the leader of a gang of thugs. Criminals seem to have the run of the place and police do nothing, so this 50-year-old guy comes home and does all the dirty work. When I watch this movie in 2018 it all seems very unrealistic, from start to finish. Yet in 1985, it work and pleased people. I will admit by this time in the franchise, the rules of engagement were completely out the window and weapons of destruction are admissible. Most of you would laugh at how silly this story is and I wouldn’t blame you. The only reason I enjoy this movie is the sentimental value I know it brought to someone else. 5/10