There's genre of movies that most movie goers just can't get enough of and that's vigilante movies. These can range from classics like "Death Wish" or to big budget ones like "The Punisher"; but I think viewers love watching heroes transform into villains, crossing the line between good and bad or judgment and revenge. Unfortunately, this film has hard time capturing this aspect.
"Death Sentence" is just one of those movies with a straight forward plot. Nick Hume (Kevin Bacon) falls victim to watching his son being murdered in a gang initiation. After realizing the legal system would fail him, he took matters into his own hands as he hunts downs and kills his son's assailant. This incites and war between him, the gang with the rest of his family caught in the middle.
The main problem was the poor transformation of Bacon's character. It just wasn't there and I had a hard time taking him seriously. Bacon has played evil/bad characters before (i.e., "Sleepers") so it was more the writing than the acting. Bacon seemed frantic, out of control, inexperienced and just plain sloppy. Near the end of the movie, Hume had to read instruction manuals on how to load a double-barreled shotgun and a .45 caliber pistol while fumbling with his bullets, then 10 minutes later he was setting down gang members like dominos and reloading his weapon with amazing grace.
Also, the implausibility factor was out of control. The gang initiation killing took place at gas station in the most run down part of town (with no working CCTV cameras of course), as Hume stopped for gas immediately as his "low fuel" light comes on and after being nearly run off the road by two suspicious muscle cars. He could of easily drove another 10-15 miles to another well-lit and feasible gas station. That's probably nit-picking, but it doesn't stop you from scratching your head and thinking "What is this guy doing?" And of course, the local police were again taking a blind eye to the recent spike in violence. After Hume kills his son's assailant, the local detective doesn't even bother to question him even after she notices Hume with a bandaged hand. Not to mention that before Hume goes on his final killing spree, he escapes the hospital in a gown, goes back home and empties his back account. Were the police on strike that day? As mentioned before, it seems Hume never seems to know what he's doing or how to take care of himself until he needs to do so, prompting some pretty decent action sequences. Most of the scenes are well scripted and choreographed that actually pretty tense, which leads me to believe that was the true purpose of the film: to move along and get to the killing quickly as possible.
"Death Sentence" was somewhat disappointing within its genre, and probably more disappointing to the average movie goer. It just sped along too quick, failed on making Bacon a believable vigilante and the implausibilities and plot holes were too much of a distraction. I'd wait for it to show up at your local Wal-Mart's bargain bin before venturing out to this see this one.
"Death Sentence" is just one of those movies with a straight forward plot. Nick Hume (Kevin Bacon) falls victim to watching his son being murdered in a gang initiation. After realizing the legal system would fail him, he took matters into his own hands as he hunts downs and kills his son's assailant. This incites and war between him, the gang with the rest of his family caught in the middle.
The main problem was the poor transformation of Bacon's character. It just wasn't there and I had a hard time taking him seriously. Bacon has played evil/bad characters before (i.e., "Sleepers") so it was more the writing than the acting. Bacon seemed frantic, out of control, inexperienced and just plain sloppy. Near the end of the movie, Hume had to read instruction manuals on how to load a double-barreled shotgun and a .45 caliber pistol while fumbling with his bullets, then 10 minutes later he was setting down gang members like dominos and reloading his weapon with amazing grace.
Also, the implausibility factor was out of control. The gang initiation killing took place at gas station in the most run down part of town (with no working CCTV cameras of course), as Hume stopped for gas immediately as his "low fuel" light comes on and after being nearly run off the road by two suspicious muscle cars. He could of easily drove another 10-15 miles to another well-lit and feasible gas station. That's probably nit-picking, but it doesn't stop you from scratching your head and thinking "What is this guy doing?" And of course, the local police were again taking a blind eye to the recent spike in violence. After Hume kills his son's assailant, the local detective doesn't even bother to question him even after she notices Hume with a bandaged hand. Not to mention that before Hume goes on his final killing spree, he escapes the hospital in a gown, goes back home and empties his back account. Were the police on strike that day? As mentioned before, it seems Hume never seems to know what he's doing or how to take care of himself until he needs to do so, prompting some pretty decent action sequences. Most of the scenes are well scripted and choreographed that actually pretty tense, which leads me to believe that was the true purpose of the film: to move along and get to the killing quickly as possible.
"Death Sentence" was somewhat disappointing within its genre, and probably more disappointing to the average movie goer. It just sped along too quick, failed on making Bacon a believable vigilante and the implausibilities and plot holes were too much of a distraction. I'd wait for it to show up at your local Wal-Mart's bargain bin before venturing out to this see this one.