Taste the Anticipation - Death Sentence: Theatrical Cut (2007)

Director: James Wan

Cast: Kevin Bacon, Kelly Preston, Garrett Hedlund, John Goodman, Aisha Tyler

Country: United States

Rating: R

Run Time: 105 minutes

Taste the Anticipation is a series dedicated to reviewing films in anticipation of a newer up and coming release. Whether it a previous franchise installment, a forgotten film within a director's immense oveure, or a thematically similar venture, anything is fair game as long as it relates to a newer cinematic product of sorts that I am anticipating.

James Wan is a favorite amongst horror buffs for his low budget horror films that blend great scares with an effective atmosphere. His films have also proven to be massive commercial successes, earning millions of dollars over their small production budgets. However, it will be interesting to see Wan make the jump from low budget horror to big budget blockbuster this summer with the newest Fast and Furious installment, Furious 7. In anticipation of Wan's jump to big budget action, I thought I would tackle Wan's only other action film in his horror heavy oeuvre, 2007's Death Sentence.

I read an interview with Wan last year where he explained his attraction to Furious 7 because of its revenge plot. I won't go into spoilers for those not in the know, but Furious 7 is most definitely going to be all about revenge after the events of Fast and Furious 6. In that interview, Wan explained that he is a huge fan of gritty revenge and vigilante films from the 70s. Therefore, he hopes to deliver a gritty revenge film within the vehicular heavy soap opera that is the Fast and Furious franchise. I bring this background up because Wan had previously explored his fascination with the gritty revenge plot in Death Sentence. Unfortunately, I don't think that Wan properly understands what made those classic action and vigilante films of the 70s so great. Even though Death Sentence delivers gratuitous violence and excellent camera work, the film falters due to excessive melodrama and weak character development.

Kevin Bacon becomes a bad ass in one of his only action roles.

Death Sentence is loosely based on Brian Garfield's novel Death Sentence, which was actually a sequel to the novel that inspired Michael Winner's 1974 classic, Death Wish. The Death Wish novel and its sequel novel Death Sentence are both about what happens when an ordinary man is pushed to the brink and has everything taken away from him. In the case of both films and novels, the man in question becomes a vigilante and sets out to enact vengeance on the punks who took his life away from him. Wan loosely adapted the Death Sentence novel into a new plot that tackled the same theme of vigilantism but deviated from the original source material's plot. Elements from the Death Sentence novel were also loosely adapted in the first Death Wish sequel, Death Wish 2.

James Wan's Death Sentence tells the story of Nick Hume (Kevin Bacon), a successful businessman with the perfect family. Hume's eldest son is a star hockey player and he couldn't be more proud of him. One night, the two stop by a gas station to grab some food and gas. Unfortunately, a group of masked robbers burst into the station's store and gun down both the cashier and Hume's eldest son. As the robbers make their escape, Hume tackles one of them and tears off their mask. Hume eventually identifies the robber for the police and agrees to testify in court against him. Upon hearing his son's killer will only get 5 years in jail instead of a life sentence, Hume claims he does not recognize the robber and lets him walk. Hume than sets out to enact vengeance on the robber his own way. However, Hume quickly learns the consequences of his actions as the leader of the gang, Billy (Garrett Hedlund), and the rest of his men come after Hume's family.

Vigilante films usually make for a depressing viewing experience. There's nothing uplifting about watching a character lose their friends or family and set out to kill those who took their life from them. Even though we may get a little enjoyment out of watching the character enact their vengeance, we feel saddened and troubled inside just like the character at the end of their journey. Because in the end, all of the violence still can't make up for the loss of one's family or friends. Wan captures the essence of a vigilante drama by making the viewer determine themselves if the protagonist's actions were morally right or wrong.

Where's Mason Storm to save a liquor store when you need him?

If you think that home videos in a movie are cheesy or annoying, than stay away from this movie! You will never see more footage of a family's home videos in your life. Wan opens the movie with home videos and than continually peppers home video footage throughout the film, right up into the very last frame! The ever abundant family footage in the film is extremely cheesy and phony. Even the banter and affection between Hume and his wife and sons comes off forced. It's a shame that Wan couldn't direct his actors to act in a natural or realistic manner because it majorly hurt my viewing experience.

Wan clearly wanted Death Sentence to be reminiscent of the gritty 70s revenge and vigilante thrillers that he loves so much. This is apparent by Death Sentence's extreme violence and gritty tone. However, Wan fails to capture the subtlety, nuanced nature, and slow pace of those 70s thrillers. This is where Wan fails to understand how to recapture the genre that he loves so much. The drama and emotions in Death Sentence are so heavy handed, that the film collapses under its own phoniness. You know a film's dialog and emotions are on the nose when a character hears about the death of the robber who killed Hume's son and replies, "Wow, I guess there is justice." Wan's greatest mistake is that he depicts Lifetime television melodrama over compelling drama. Death Sentence also features a terrible soundtrack of songs that serve to underscore any sad scene in order to let the audience know that the characters are sad (you know, just in case you couldn't figure it out for yourself when you see Kevin Bacon crying in the shower or Kelly Preston sobbing on the ground).

In all honesty, I was surprised to see Kevin Bacon come off as such a bad ass here. I mean, this is the same guy who has appeared in fun films like Footloose and Animal House. And yet, here he is with a shaved head a-la Taxi Driver's Travis Bickle blasting the hell out of goons left and right. Bacon does a good job portraying an ordinary man who makes an extreme decision only to regret it immediately after. His turn from a kind businessman into a hardened vigilante is mostly believable because the turn doesn't come until the final 30 minutes of the film. Like I said, Hume's transformation would have been more affective if it were more subtle and not as heavy handed as Wan directs it to be. Still, action fans will find a side of Bacon previously unexplored before once they see him pick up a double barreled shotgun and blow a man's leg clean off.

Hedlund plays a captivating and fearsome gang leader.

Garrett Hedlund (Troy, Tron: Legacy) turns in the film's best performance as Billy, the main antagonist and leader of the gang who is responsible for the death of Hume's son. Billy and his fellow gang members feel like they were picked out of any sleezy Death Wish film from the 70s or 80s with their exaggerated emotions and irrational actions. Hedlund is so vile and malicious in this film that you will forget that he is the same actor who played the boy scout-like Sam Flynn in Tron: Legacy. Hedlund's dedication to play the slimiest of scumbags in recent memory makes his performance all the more memorable. John Goodman also shows up for three scenes as Billy's father, a large gun dealer with an odd sense of honor and morality. Still, I'll take three scenes of John Goodman spouting expletives over no John Goodman.

Even though it is clear that Wan failed to convey the film's drama in an affective and believable manner, I can whole heartedly say that the man did a fantastic job in the action department. The few action scenes in the film are incredibly well shot, edited, framed, and choreographed. Director of photography John R. Leonetti incorporates a lengthy tracking shot during a chase scene in a parking garage that makes for one of the film's most thrilling sequences. When Billy and his gang attack Hume in public, Hume runs for his life through an alley, a restaurant, and eventually into a parking garage. With no weapon in hand, Hume has to use his wits and knowledge in order to outrun the gang members and their guns. It's a fantastic sequence made all the better by Leonetti's impressive tracking shot that gives the viewer a perfect sense of the scene's setting.

There is no denying that Death Sentence's best piece of action is its final gory gun battle in Billy's hideout. After loosing everything, Hume buzzes his hair off, straps on a leather jacket, and buys a bag full of guns. Hume goes full vigilante in the film's final 15 minutes as he rams his car into Billy's hideout and engages in an extremely bloody shootout with Billy's men. The sound editing is especially excellent in this sequence. Every gun shot and shot gun blast carries a weight to it that the viewer can feel. It is clear that Wan is a horror filmmaker because all of the film's kills are exceptionally bloody. Gory highlights include Hume blasting a goon's leg clean off and Hume blowing a character's fingers clean off. I haven't seen a shotgun to the leg scene that gory since 91's Out for Justice, it is that bloody. Even though I did a fair amount of bashing on Wan in this review, I can say nothing but great things about the man's attention to detail in the action department. His action scenes are nothing but fluid, bloody, and exciting.

That shotgun really ties the outfit together dude.

It's a shame that Wan's direction of Death Sentence's emotional moments and heavy handed drama hurts it so bad. If Wan had gone the nuanced route and allowed his film to be subtle, than it may have been far better. At least the action scenes and Garrett Hedlund's villain are first rate. Horror fans might actually enjoy this film for its extreme gore and simply because it is directed by James Wan, a director so beloved and revered in the horror community. I recommend this film as a rental though to any die hard vigilante action fan. Even though the drama is hard to get through, the few action scenes that are there are enough to wet any action fan's palette. If you are looking for a more compelling, realistic, and contemporary vigilante drama, than check out the British film, Harry Brown, starring Michael Caine. If gore and excess are more your thing though, than Death Sentence is for you.

Rating: 5/10 - Stupendous action scenes and first rate camera work can't save this dull and heavy handed vigilante drama.