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Death Sentence

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Death Sentence (2007)

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Reviews Counted:107

Fresh:21

Rotten:86

Average Rating:4.1/10

Consensus: A nonsensical plot and an absurd amount of violence make this revenge pic gratuitous and overwrought.

Runtime: 2 hrs

Genre: Action, Gangs, Thriller, Theatrical Release, Violence, Revenge

US Box Office: $9,479,756

Synopsis: A white-collar revenge fantasy in the vein of DEATH WISH (and based on a novel by the same author, Brian Garfield), DEATH SENTENCE ponders the nature and limits of retribution, asking if murder can... A white-collar revenge fantasy in the vein of DEATH WISH (and based on a novel by the same author, Brian Garfield), DEATH SENTENCE ponders the nature and limits of retribution, asking if murder can ever be justified. Director James Wan (SAW) delivers a high-end exploitation film, complete with a washed-out, grainy appearance and some startling violence, but with complex, thrilling action sequences. Kevin Bacon is Nick Hume, a successful businessman with two children and a lovely wife (Kelly Preston). While driving home from his older, college-bound son's hockey game, Nick must pull into a gas station in a tough part of town. When the boy goes into the store to buy a drink, his throat is slit during a bloody robbery attempt. Nick identifies the killer, but with him as the only witness, the case is unable to go to trial. Discovering that the murder was merely a gang initiation, Nick is pushed over the edge, taking on the deadly gang headed by the fierce Billy Darley (Garrett Hedlund). Payback becomes all-encompassing for Nick: it not only takes over his life, but it also causes a startling physical transformation. Wan forgoes emotional impact in favor of souped-up, visceral, and occasionally thrilling setpieces. Bacon makes Nick's transformation from a suburban, suit-and-tie family man into a gaunt, shaved-headed angel of death startling and believable. Full of interesting contradictions, DEATH SENTENCE lets viewers have it both ways--fulfilling their bloodlust while ensuring that Nick's targets are despicable people who deserve their fates. Ultimately, though it serves to remind us that, as a solution, violence only begets more violence. [More]

Starring: Kevin Bacon, Garrett Hedlund, Kelly Preston, Aisha Tyler

Starring: Kevin Bacon, Garrett Hedlund, Kelly Preston, Aisha Tyler, John Goodman, Jordan Garrett, Stuart Lafferty, Edi Gathegi, Matthew O'Leary, Leigh Whannell, Hector Atreyu Ruiz

Director: James Wan

Director: James Wan
Screenwriter: Ian Jeffers
Producer: Ashok Amritraj, Howard Baldwin, Karen Baldwin
Composer: Charlie Clouser
Studio: 20th Century Fox

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Reviews for Death Sentence

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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A gritty and gripping revenge fantasy %u2026 Kevin Bacon's talent and persona to make us sit up and take notice

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
04/26/08
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It's a gritty, adrenaline-soaked thriller -- and if that's as deep as you care to dig, you'll be entertained. But for those who care to contemplate, it's quite a bit more.

Full Review Source: Times-Picayune | comment Comment
10/09/09
Mike Scott
Mike Scott
Times-Picayune

It's a powerful, visceral revenge flick, and Kevin Bacon does a fine acting job bringing the vigilante to life.

Full Review Source: 7M Pictures | comment Comment
08/17/08
Kevin Carr
Kevin Carr
7M Pictures

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | comment Comment
08/07/08
Jonathan Kiefer
Jonathan Kiefer
Sacramento News & Review

Death Sentence is a laughably bad exercise in the pornography of sadism and the American appetite which voraciously consumes it.

Full Review Source: BrandonFibbs.com | comment Comment
02/28/08
Brandon Fibbs
Brandon Fibbs
BrandonFibbs.com

This Sentence is as grisly and violent as the trailer portends.

Full Review Source: Washington Times | comment Comment
02/04/08
Christian Toto
Christian Toto
Washington Times

I really enjoyed what [it] had to offer with takes on morals, war, and the damage violence can do to people in its grasp...

Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | comment Comment
01/18/08
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out New York | comment Comment
01/18/08
Joshua Rothkopf
Joshua Rothkopf
Time Out New York

Bacon, as usual, is very good even when he's slumming, and as a trashy B-movie redo of Death Wish the movie works well enough for a Saturday afternoon with a case of brewskies.

Full Review Source: Film.com | comment Comment
01/08/08
Mark Bourne
Mark Bourne
Film.com

Death Sentence tries to do two things: be a stirring family drama and a balls-out gore soaked revenge flick. It achieves only one of those goals.

Full Review Source: Dread Central | comment Comment
01/08/08
Uncle Creepy
Uncle Creepy
Dread Central

This graphically violent film suffers from cursorily developed characters whose primary function is to advance the creaky plot.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
12/03/07
Joshua Katzman
Joshua Katzman
Chicago Reader

Begins promisingly but ends putridly.

Full Review Source: Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL) | comment Comment
11/01/07
Jeffrey Westhoff
Jeffrey Westhoff
Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)

...the film's schizophrenic nature eventually proves to be its downfall...

Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | comment Comment
10/13/07
David Nusair
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews

Don't hire Kevin Bacon for a role you wrote for Charles Bronson.

Full Review Source: HollywoodChicago.com | comment 1 Comment
09/21/07
Adam Fendelman
Adam Fendelman
HollywoodChicago.com

The graininess of the film generally makes everything look as ugly as it feels. Death Sentence deserves no reprieve.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
09/15/07
Marjorie Baumgarten
Marjorie Baumgarten
Austin Chronicle

Think of it as one long worship service in the Church of Vigilante Justice.

Full Review Source: Fresno Bee | comment Comment
09/14/07
Donald Munro
Donald Munro
Fresno Bee

Even with its overly stylized look and cartoonish bad guys, Death Sentence is not a film that you can easily shake off.

Full Review Source: Q Network Film Desk | comment Comment
09/11/07
James Kendrick
James Kendrick
Q Network Film Desk

Death Sentence is a better film than many might expect and also delivers several good doses of action for fans of shoot 'em-ups.

Full Review Source: IGN Movies | comment Comment
09/10/07
Stax
Stax
IGN Movies

Exploitive and overwrought with extreme violence - one of the worst movies so far this year.

Full Review Source: www.susangranger.com | comment Comment
09/08/07
Susan Granger
Susan Granger
www.susangranger.com

The best that can be said about 'Death Sentence' is that it doesn't try to be too deep or arty.

Full Review Source: ReelTalk Movie Reviews | comment Comment
09/08/07
John P. McCarthy
John P. McCarthy
ReelTalk Movie Reviews
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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