While some may hold dear movie franchises such as Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings or anything having to do with Harry Potter, it’s actually Death Wish that does it for me – and I’m probably one of the few guys under fifty years of age who will say that. Hey, I’ve always been a fan of vigilante justice on film, and few other series have pulled it off so well.
Odds are that you’re probably familiar with characters like the Punisher, but what separated Charles Bronson’s Paul Kersey from a Frank Castle was that he was just your average guy who was dealt a very bad hand. Basically, someone close to him was killed in each of the five movies in the original series, thus making for an even worse time for anybody who happened to be a street thug within Kersey’s locale.
Actually, the idea of rebooting the Death Wish franchise is something Hollywood had been kicking around for a while. Believe it or not, Sylvester Stallone tried to revive it about a decade ago. And nothing against Sly himself, but the role of Paul Kersey needed someone who could pull off that “everyman” quality, and seeing an action icon such as him could potentially take you right out of the movie. Granted, some could argue the same for Bruce Willis, the man who has since landed the lead, but I believe he’s capable of toeing that line.
In recent memory, we’ve been treated to a couple trailers that have illustrated the latest crack at the franchise will retain the DNA of what’s come before, but will still be something fresh. Furthermore, the newly released red band trailer (seen at the top) takes us back to the 1970’s, the very decade that spawned the original flick with Bronson.
This time around, we see director Eli Roth’s bloody fingerprints all over a video package that makes one recall the days of Grindhouse cinema. Plus, there’s really no need to ever cut a trailer for the El Rey Network should this movie ever air on that, for this is in line with pretty much every promo that they run.
Death Wish opens in theaters on March 2nd.