Death Sentence

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Summary:
Nick Hume's son is killed one night during a gang initiation murder. He decides to take the law into his own hands, waging a war upon the dudes that killed his son.

Review:
James Wan's non-Saw directorial foray is a worthy effort, hitting its mark more than missing. It's one of those simplistic "guy takes revenge" (yes I'm gonna say it) Death Wish style stories. If that's your kind of movie, then this should deliver on the goods. This is based off of Brian Garfield's novel, who also wrote - you guessed it - Death Wish.
I don't mind me a healthy serving of vigilante justice. I also am quite the fan of Kevin Bacon, who manages to put himself into a wide variety of film types, from Stir of Echoes to The Woodsman (FANTASTIC movie), or Where the Truth Lies, which although is a misfire, I respect Bacon's efforts to stay out of a single kind of movie mold. He once again goes into a different setting as a loving but flawed father that tries to deal with the death of his oldest son.
Sentence tried very hard to establish a loving bond with the Hume family, spending a decent amount of time helping us know Nick, Helen, Lucas and Brendan before the inevitable takes hold, and the killing starts. The biggest issue with this is that we know what's going to happen to this family, and I think the pre-carnage went on a little too long, because we all know what direction things are headed to, so... let's get to it!
I found myself unconvinced with Kelly Preston's performance, especially when she breaks down at her son's death in the hospital. There's no dialog, but her falling on the floor and exploding with sorrow kinda hit me with a hint of humor. I'm probably just a sick bastard. Bacon and Mr. Goodman were the two worth watching when they came onscreen. Hell, John Goodman was the only thing I liked in COYOTE UGLY, so I can't say I'm surprised that he did well in this one as well. He's only in a few scenes, but it was some fun times.

When the fit finally hits the shan, and Mr. Hume decides to become Charles Bronson, I was mostly interested in seeing how the carnage would ensue. I'm thankful for James Wan's willingness to get gritty and filthy with some unforgiving gore. With a movie like this, you need an R rating to get the fullest sense of vengeance. Much like Washington's carnage ensued in Man on Fire, which were my favorite parts of the movie. Mr. Hume's revenge doesn't go as smoothly or competently, but it's because he's a family man who obviously never even touched a gun in his life. In some ways, that makes this kind of revenge interesting to watch.
What I found amusing was watching the not-so-gradual transformation of Nick Hume from a clean cut, healthy man in an expensive suit to his eventual physical and emotional breakdown by the end. The deeper he sinks into his murderous ways, the more you see it taking a toll on him in other parts of his life. This isn't as subtle as it could have been, but once again, it's the idea that works best for me, even if the execution (badump CHING) isn't expertly done.
I also praise Wan for a few choice directorial decisions. The first is that he didn't go by way of Bay or Greengrass, and inundate the viewers with a slew of swooping spinning cameras, and nearly impossible to comprehend fast cuts and blurry motion. Wan actually kept the pace more deliberate, and during some moments of carnage, the camera MOVES, but not to the point of incomprehension. This is good. I also enjoyed the fancy work done at the parking garage, where it follows Bacon from floor one all the way to the top, going in and out of the garage and moving up the floors in a fluid, almost cut-free motion. Nicely done. What I liked the least was the crappy pop music that came in at some points. I think it would have worked better if the soundtrack was orchestral, and had no guitars or shitty vocals. There's this one song that was played two or three times, when people got shot... it was LAME, yo!

Death Sentence wasn't fantastic by any means, but it kept me entertained enough, and I got just about what I was expecting from it, and I'm ultimately satisfied. I like revenge movies like this, so that's another notch in the positive for it. This is no breakthrough in storytelling or film making, but that's OK, because it did was it was intended to do. Kevin Bacon was great as always, helping me remain grounded to Hume's horror, and I was more than willing to follow him all the way to the end. If you're looking for an average, violent movie that goes in the directions you expect it to, then this fairly straightforward revenge flick might be worth checking out. It's nothing special, but it's also not bad, which is of utmost importance to me.

GRADE: C

Reviewed: 9/4/07