REVIEW: Death Wish makes Bruce Willis die hard in all the wrong ways

REVIEW: Death Wish is supposed to be a remake of the 1974 revenge thriller starring Charles Bronson. But Bruce Willis steps into the Bronson’s shoes of with all the enthusiasm of someone whose beloved pet is being held hostage by the filmmakers.

DEATH WISH (R18+)

Rating: one and a half stars (1.5 out of 5)

Director: Eli Roth (Hostel)

Starring: Bruce Willis, Vincent D’Onofrio, Elisabeth Shue, Camila Morrone, Dean Norris.

Few signs of life

They killed his wife, and now they’re gonna pay.

They also left his daughter in a coma, so now everyone is really gonna pay.

Who did what — and who must make reparations — is of little consequence to Death Wish.

This is supposed to be a remake of the 1974 revenge thriller starring Charles Bronson, a punishing affair that spawned a further four, increasingly awful instalments.

Bruce Willis stars as Paul Kersey in Death Wish.

However, all this update can do is sullenly channel the grim mood of the original movie, albeit only for a few minutes at a time.

A lethargic Bruce Willis steps into the shoes of Bronson with all the enthusiasm of someone who may have taken the role only because a beloved household pet is being held hostage by the filmmakers.

Bruce Willis stars as Paul Kersey in Death Wish.

Willis plays Paul Kersey, a Chicago ER surgeon who goes from pacifist pushover to vigilante virtuoso after failing to protect his wife and kid from the worst life can do to a family.

Slowly, but surely, Kersey takes to the streets to square his ledger with the world, often using a gun or a blunt implement to dispense his brutal brand of on-the-spot justice.

Those with an eye for the cinematically trivial will notice this sadistically violent affair has legitimately earned an R18+ rating from Australian censors, which is almost impossible to do these days.

Those with any recent memory of news headlines out of America will be unsettled by the movie’s celebration of gun culture, and a man content to blow away anyone he damn well wants.

Camila Morrone as Jordan Kersey, Elisabeth Shue as Lucy Kersey, and Bruce Willis as Paul Kersey star in Death Wish.