Un justicier dans la ville II

Charles Bronson picks up where he left off in the famous "Death Wish" movie of 1976, going after punks and eliminating them. The only differences: he's moved from New York to Los Angeles and the violence is more graphic.

Despite the B-movie feel to this (produced by the kings of the cheapo movies of that era (70s and early 80s) : Golan/Globus, it still is very enjoyable and satisfying - if revenge is your thing. Here, Bronson revenges the death of his daughter. At least her death is quick and bloodless, unlike the unpleasant rape-and-murder scene in the first film.

Also, unlike the first film there is no need for a long setup. Bronson gets back in his vigilante mode in a hurry here and never lets up. If you want a short dose (an hour and a half) of action, this is your movie. One of the gang members in here, by the way, is a young Laurence Fishburne.

The negatives are (1) sub-par acting performances by Bronson and his real-life wife, Jill Ireland; (2) some blatant credibility problems with the story ( such as how Bronson could get across town all bloody but never be noticed;) and (3) not exactly the most intelligent dialog!

Yet, this is still an appealing movie to our conditioned satisfaction for instant revenge. So, if you've had a bad day and need a release of your hostilities, this is a good remedy!

Be grateful for Michael Winner's sledgehammer sensitivity because it produced this classic.

None of Paul Kersey's (Charles Bronson) remaining family and friends get off lightly in this twisted nightmare of domestic violence, anal rape, vigilante justice and simplistic politics.

For fans of rough justice, the rape of Bronson's Mexican housemaid is truly amazing and eroticized like crazy by Winner's leering direction.

Thomas F. Duffy as Nirvana, the film's lead thug, is really horrible and a joy to behold (in a perverse way).

Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page provides a rock score that scorches the L.A. imagery and Vincent Gardenia returns as the cop who prefers to look the other way.

A Cannon-backed sleazefest that brings home the groceries if you like eating trash.

Screw GONE WITH THE WIND. This is much more entertaining.

Once again , Bronson/Kersey blows away baddies with lots of explicit , eerie and grisly violence . Extremely violent follow-up to the successful 1974 movie based on the characters written by Brian Garfield , whose novel the picture is based on . This sequel was made and released about eight years after Death Wish (1974) . Second entry in the original five film series in which Kersey takes the law on his own hands ; nowadays , he has a new sweetheart in his life , the beautiful Geri Nichols (Jill Ireland) , a radio anchor woman . When Kersey and family are mugged by some attackers , he , then , seeks vengeance . As Paul searching for vendetta against cutthroats when his daughter -who is still catatonic from the previous attack- is victimized again . The five-times-weary urban vigilant hits villains , this time , hard . Following to successful crime thriller that created the Vigilante genre with Bronson as the main star as architect Paul Kersey (wooding acting by Bronson who looks bored and tired with this rehash material) turned the one-man vigilante and he tries to find the five sadistic street punks who attacked his daughter and housekeeper , this time on the dark streets of Los Angeles . Meanwhile , being pursued by the astute Police Inspector Det. Frank Ochoa (Vincent Gardenia) , as usual .

This second routine entry with excessive violence concerns about Paul Kersey , an ageing architect who becomes again into vigilante and wiping out the band of mobsters . The main amusement results to be to guess the kinds of deaths that Bronson executes against the villains , as he carries out retribution and vendetta . This is 2ª outing from the novel ¨Death wish¨ by Brian Garfield in which an architect taking the law into his own revengeful hands and acting as judge , jury and executioner . It contains suspense, noisy action-packed , intrigue , thrills and lots of violence . Initial excitement at the welter of violence son palls into boredom , only intermittently relieved by the preposterousness . Mediocre screenplay manages a couple of nice twists , but it's too formulary to pursue the ambiguities it reveals . Here filmmaker emphasising a hostile , nightmare terrain and relying his virtually sympathies with the confused , violent Paul Kersey . Bronson with his ordinary stoic acting displays efficiently his weapons such as ¨Harry the Dirty¨ and killing mercilessly nasties . Screenwriter re-wrote the entire script while filming but Charles Bronson constantly had problems with the dialog . It's certainly thrilling , though the morality may be questionable , even in this time, as the spectators were clearly on the Kersey-Bronson's side . Furthermore , it benefits from some good support actors , as here appears a nice secondary cast , such as : Vincent Gardenia , J.D. Cannon , Anthony Franciosa , Robin Sherwood , Thomas Duffy , Robert F. Lyons , and a young Larry Fishburne as ominous hoodlum , among others . It packs a screeching musical score composed, orchestrated and performed by guitarist Jimmy Page from Led Zeppelin . Atmospheric cinematography by two great cameramen : Thomas Del Ruth and Richard H. Kline .

The studio , Cannon : Yoram Globus, Menahem Golam , produced this one in enough budget . This was the first film that both star Charles Bronson and director Michael Winner made with Cannon Films and producers Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus . The two would make a number of movies with them throughout the 1980s, including one more together, Death Wish III (1985). The motion picture was poorly directed by Michael Winner and the production shoot on this movie went for forty-four days . Michael Winner career was failed , alternating some hit as ¨the sentinel¨ and various flops as ¨Firepower¨, ¨The big sleep¨, ¨The wicked lady¨, ¨Appointed with death¨, ¨A chorus of disapproval¨, ¨Bullseye¨ and ¨The stone killer¨. Although he also achieved some important successes as the ¨Death Wish¨ series .

The original film ¨Death wish¨ had great commercial hit , it was followed by various extremely violent sequels to this successful 1974 movie , that's , of course , the best from the series , being starred by Hope Lange , Stuart Margolin , William Redfield and Jeff Goldblum . This first big hit motion picture was middling directed by Michael Winner such as the successive films with his main star, Charles Bronson , usually giving wooden performance . In the mid-70 Winner , in need to other hit smashes attempted with the sequels , but both , Bronson and Winner , looked increasingly passionless and mechanical in the later years of their partnership in this cheap as well as worn-out final series . The worst sequels in which Kersey goes on to torture robbers , all of them inferior and the violence could be deemed exaggerated , they are the followings : ¨Death wish II¨ by Michael Winner with Jill Ireland , Anthony Franciosa , JD Cannon and Vincent Gardenia , ¨Death Wish III¨ by Winner with Ed Lauter , Martin Balsam , Gavan O'Herlihy and Deborah Raffin . Death Wish 3 that would be the last and it was then not made for about another seven years . However , Michael Winner showed no interest in directing Death Wish 4 because he had heard that Charles Bronson had a terrible experience filming Death Wish III (1985). Following ¨Death Wish 4 : The crackdown¨(1987) with Kay Lenz , John P Ryan , Perry López , Soon-Teck-Oh directed by J.Lee Thompson . And ¨Death Wish , the face of the death¨ by Allan A. Goldstein being starred by with Leslie Anne Down , Michael Parks , Chuck Shamata , Saul Rubinek , Kenneth Welsh and Miguel Sandoval . In addition , an intended but unfilmed sixth movie was also to have a subtitle: 'Death Wish 6: The New Vigilante'.

The supposed correlation between violence/sexuality in art and violence in reality has been shoved to the forefront of our culture, especially in the past decade, when incidents such as the Columbine massacre confirmed politicians' fears of an unregulated entertainment industry in need of a spanking. In non-fanatical, everyday reality, however, I have come to disagree with the equation above. Some would argue that ugly, violent, nihilistic, and generally misanthropic films like "Death Wish" and its sequels do nothing but contribute to intensifying the more unsavory impulses that lay dormant in the viewer's id.

Yet therein lies the purpose of such rough-edged, unpleasant entertainment. It sparks the id, pummels it into submission, so that when the experience is over, a sigh of relief is uttered.

The original "Death Wish" was a well-done exploitation flick with the professional gloss of an A picture; despite its relatively shallow insight into the murky moral terrain of vigilante justice, it contained an intensely subdued performance by Charles Bronson, and confident direction by Michael Winner.

By comparison, "Death Wish 2" is a typical sequel, taking what the original had and dumbing it down to milk some cash for the franchise. In addition to Bronson (in the role of architect Paul Kersey), a few other characters return to provide at least a superficial connection to the original (Robin Sherwood as his daughter; Vincent Gardenia as the cop that uncovered his identity). The plot is as before: Paul Kersey has begun a new life (courting the cheerfully cardboard Jill Ireland) which is shattered when a gang of punks (including a young Laurence Fishburne) rape and murder his housekeeper and daughter. Unlike the original, no time is spent watching Kersey contemplate his actions; he simply goes to work, and in the process is rendered a stoic killing machine. The characterization/motivation for the punks is given even less thought--they exist for the sole purpose of showing how scummy the scummiest scum of society can be. The film moves from one random encounter to the next, wherein Kersey stumbles across gang members and kills them.

Of course this doesn't sound like highbrow film-making, but "Death Wish 2" never teases the audience with any notions of greatness. In spite of the meager attention given to Kersey's character, we root for him anyway; and in spite of the inexplicably-written punks, we hope for their demise. Michael Winner once again gives the film a gritty yet polished look, though he is clearly directing a flat-out B picture; the pacing is tight (the film runs just under 90 minutes), and the action is competently choreographed (though the romantic subplot provides a respite from the relentless violence, it is shallow and cloying). Jimmy Page's offbeat musical score only adds to the unusual charge this film packs.

In the best-case scenario, "Death Wish 2" is no masterpiece, but the perfect Novocaine to apply after a particularly rotten day. It will numb you into a state of apathy and wash your troubles away (that's a compliment).

Of all the Death Wish sequels, this was the best. I think once they got to up part 3 with all the machine guns and rocket launchers, then it started to get a little stupid. The story almost has an identical plot outline as the first one and the action is just as good, if not, then even better. The shootout at San Pedro park was awesome!!! The only difference is that they make Paul Kersey have more emotional interaction with the creeps he kills which makes it seem to be more "Hollywood". In the first Death Wish, Kersey would just kill them stone cold without having a conversation. That's why the original was so good as so realistic.