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[MaverickX9]

Anybody going to see Death Sentence this weekend?

It has gotten HORRIBLE reviews over at Rotten Tomatoes - currently stands at 6% - but a modern day remake/sequel to Death Wish? Sign me up.

 

[Timedog]

it has a 6% at RT and you're saying sign me up???

 

[ToyMachine228]

it has a 6% at RT and you're saying sign me up???

Holy shit, that bad? I saw the black and white poster of Bacon with a bat and that looked decent...Never watched trailers or anything though.

 

[fatigues_gasolini]

More like 6 degrees of box office failure, amirite?









P.S. I do like Kevin Bacon. That one movie where he was the sexuakl predator was pretty good.

 

[MaverickX9]

it has a 6% at RT and you're saying sign me up???

Death Wish was so awesome that it is making me want to see Death Sentence.

Roger Ebert gave it 3.5 stars, too.

 

[SpeedingUptoStop]

I kinda like James Wan's stuff, so I might check it out some time.

 

[LakeEarth]

Holy shit, that bad? I saw the black and white poster of Bacon with a bat and that looked decent...Never watched trailers or anything though.

That poster is literally all this movie has going for it. The commercials are pretty poor, if it weren't for that awesome poster I wouldn't have given this movie a second look.

 

[SpeedingUptoStop]

One of my more respectable review sources gave it a decent review

http://www.cinematical.com/2007/08/31/review-death-sentence/

Kinda what I expected, basically.

 

[MaverickX9]

I just got back from a matinee showing...

It actually is a pretty decent film. It isn't a great movie by any means, but it should definitely be higher than the 14% rating it has right now at RT. The film has a certain humility to it and it handles both sides of the revenge idea pretty well, albeit with slightly too much sap in some parts.

It has enough stuff going on to keep you interested until minute 110.

Kevin Bacon isn't Charles Bronson, but he wasn't really trying to be. He gave a pretty solid performance all-in-all. One reviewer claimed he turned in to "Terminator" at the end, which is complete bullshit in my opinion. He never really knows what he is doing and that is blatantly obvious.

John Goodman was good in his brief part, too.

Kelly Preston...I don't know how anybody can consider her an actress.

I'd give it a 6.5/10

 

[Suburban Cowboy]

This was a good movie. A lot better than what it could have been (and what i half expected it to be). Basically its Punisher if Punisher had been a good film*

The guy plays a risk-assessor but the movie doesnt go too far out of the way to show him as an uptight dweeb. Theres plenty of violence, but the gore is rarely over the top. The director really did a great job to keep such a warn-out plot from really feeling all that cliche.

I must say for whatever reason, emotionally i wasnt all that attached after his son dies(which itself was a very tragic scene). I expected to be a little more "fuck ya!" when he started offing the thugs but oh well. Probably just wasnt in the mood to get too involved in it.

7.5 (its basically better than Lair)

*

Spoiler

I never saw Punisher

 

[ParticleReality]

it has a 6% at RT and you're saying sign me up???

All of James Wan's movies are pretty bad in reviews. The only decent thing he's ever done was Saw.

 

[guise]

Saw it yday without knowing anything about the movie. Pure cheese.

Had some good parts - mainly the action parts but everything else about the movie was just boring/silly/cheesy

 

[Dynamite Shikoku]

No, but I got the death sentence this weekend lol cya guys

 

[Xater]

I saw the trailer during UFC74 and I knew immediately this movie is going to suck. :lol

 

[Suburban Cowboy]

I saw the trailer during UFC74 and I knew immediately this movie is going to suck. :lol

Dont bother posting your impressions once you see it.

 

[MaverickX9]

This movie would have fit in perfectly with a triple feature version of Grindhouse...it had just the right blend of action, violence, and cheese.

 

[Suburban Cowboy]

This movie would have fit in perfectly with a triple feature version of Grindhouse...it had just the right blend of action, violence, and cheese.

I dont think this is fair. The violence held no stronger a presence than the plot. The story did not just serve as a machine for delivering stylized violence and gore, it was actually fleshed out. At no point was this movie any cheesier than its premise.

Usually in these sort of movies, the main character becomes all "Im pissed, let me kill everyone that stands in my way." Here, Bacon was emotionally distraught the entire movie, not just over what happened to his son, but because of the actions he takes.

To me it felt like this movie did its best to set it apart from all of the other vengeance films we see each year.

 

[Core407]

It's no Tremors.

 

[EviLore]

I enjoyed it. As one of the only people in the theater, I was a little annoyed by the dynamic duo of assholes who laughed hysterically and snorted during all the serious parts, but yeah.

It's a solid revenge flick. The critics complaining about mixing up too many different elements seem pretty strange to me, as it's the plot development and some semblance of attachment to characters that makes the violence particularly worthwhile.

There are plot holes...why aren't the crime scenes full of physical evidence, and why isn't kevin bacon's character in jail for the entire movie...but it's pretty tough to avoid 'em and still write this story, so I forgive. Some scenes that try to connect emotionally really fail altogether, but I'm still glad they're there.

It's filmed well, with a distinctive style and coherent flow of action.

16% Fresh, 8% cream of the crop? Very harsh.

 

[Suburban Cowboy]

16% Fresh, 8% cream of the crop? Very harsh.

RT is dead to me.

 

[SketchTheArtist]

I enjoyed it. As one of the only people in the theater, I was a little annoyed by the dynamic duo of assholes who laughed hysterically and snorted during all the serious parts, but yeah.

It's a solid revenge flick. The critics complaining about mixing up too many different elements seem pretty strange to me, as it's the plot development and some semblance of attachment to characters that makes the violence particularly worthwhile.

There are plot holes...why aren't the crime scenes full of physical evidence, and why isn't kevin bacon's character in jail for the entire movie...but it's pretty tough to avoid 'em and still write this story, so I forgive. Some scenes that try to connect emotionally really fail altogether, but I'm still glad they're there.

It's filmed well, with a distinctive style and coherent flow of action.

16% Fresh, 8% cream of the crop? Very harsh.

Can you tell me if it tries to be coherent visually and on the audio side? I remember being very annoyed by SAW's heavy-metal songs playing during what was suppose to be tense moments and the camera shaking uncontrollably. T'was garbage.

 

[MaverickX9]

Can you tell me if it tries to be coherent visually and on the audio side? I remember being very annoyed by SAW's heavy-metal songs playing during what was suppose to be tense moments and the camera shaking uncontrollably. T'was garbage.

I can't recall a whole lot of metal songs. I almost certainly don't recall any during tense moments.

The handheld camerawork is kept to a minimum throughout most of the movie. I should say that there is a good bit of it, but only in moments where it makes sense.

 

[Somnid]

It's decent. Though it kinda switches back and forth between an over the top action flick and drama (I'd rather they picked one and stuck to it). Also, there was something about the filter they used on the movie that I wasn't too fond of, the colors just seemed weird.

 

[Suburban Cowboy]

Can you tell me if it tries to be coherent visually and on the audio side? I remember being very annoyed by SAW's heavy-metal songs playing during what was suppose to be tense moments and the camera shaking uncontrollably. T'was garbage.

This movie really doesn't try to be cool or "hard core." Theres a real effort to portray a normal guy under extraordinary circumstances

 

[Fady K]

Any other GAFfers see this? I saw it recently and it took me by surprise - very enjoyable flick with Bacon doing a great job, and the plot really got me, nice consluion, good action scenes, nice appearance by John Goodman, great music from Clouser. Check it out.

 

[Fusebox]

Took me a few goes to get through it. I don't usually mind slow-pace bashers like History of Violence or Straw Dogs but this one... yeah, just didn't grab me.

 

[grandjedi6]

Woah, I came in here expecting political gaf but instead encountered movie gaf.

 

[Dali]

Any other GAFfers see this? I saw it recently and it took me by surprise - very enjoyable flick with Bacon doing a great job, and the plot really got me, nice consluion, good action scenes, nice appearance by John Goodman, great music from Clouser. Check it out.

I thought it was pretty good. Somehow Bacon's transition from mild-mannered business man/yuppy dad to

Spoiler

the guy that single-handedly was able to evade and finally kill an entire gang of hardened murderers

was believable and done really well.

 

[WrikaWrek]

Well, i saw the movie. And, i guess mainly i would like to give some props to the camera work, it's really well directed on that front, has some really amazing one shot sequences.

Specially the parking lot scene, it's pretty amazing.

The movie itself, well, there's some cool action but the story is derivative as hell.

 

[Fady K]

I thought it was pretty good. Somehow Bacon's transition from mild-mannered business man/yuppy dad to

Spoiler

the guy that single-handedly was able to evade and finally kill an entire gang of hardened murderers

was believable and done really well.

Exactly, the transition was believable.

Loved the chase scene too.

 

[Future PhaZe]

I'd hate to revive an older topic, but just thought I'd throw in my 2 cents. Very solid flick. I personally saw the Unrated dvd so I'm not sure if the theatrical version was limited enough to cause a serious downgrade, but I can't understand the 16% review score on RT for this. It was just very intense the whole way through, and the gun fights were very well done. As far as cheese goes, I can say there was only three things in the whole movie that kind of struck me as odd.

Spoiler

1. The shaving scene, there was just something about it that didn't sit right me. Maybe the camera work or the music or something.

2. Goodman basically getting shot and killed at the end. I thought it would have been better just leaving him be after he sold the guns to Nick. They should have simply left the part out where he acknowledged the fact that he was an enemy in the first place, that way there would have been a kind of irony and justice to it.

3. The gun scene where Nick is about to be shot by the hispanic guy. Ducking a shotgun blast due to a clue from a moving shadow is about as old as dust, which took away from the intensity of the gunfight. Also dodging and following up with an accurate shotgun blast through the wall was bad as well.

Other than some of these parts I thought it was pretty well done.

 

[The Take Out Bandit]

Sorry for another posthumous bump, but just watched this. I'm a fan of the vigilante / revenge movie.

There are plot holes...why aren't the crime scenes full of physical evidence, and why isn't kevin bacon's character in jail for the entire movie...but it's pretty tough to avoid 'em and still write this story, so I forgive. Some scenes that try to connect emotionally really fail altogether, but I'm still glad they're there.

Yeah, they play this one fairly fast and loose so it doesn't really nag me.

What nags me is some of the dumb shit Bacon does:

Spoiler

Why does he advertise his position by setting off car alarms?! Fuck that noise dude. Vanish into thin air, don't draw attention to yourself.

Receives briefcase with phone number of criminals on defaced family photo. Call your family first and tell them to GTFO! No, he calls the assholes first - then his family WTF?!

Let's his family stay in the house with him after personal encounters and two murders with this gang? No. My instincts would be to send them out of town. Sure the gang may be watching the house, but it's a risk worth taking ultimately.

All in all, not terrible (Punisher w/ Thomas Jane); but not exceptional (Death Wish, Boondock Saints).

Watching the webisodes on the DVD gave me an appreciation for how they filmed a lot of stuff. Like the single take chase scene in the garage.