By jettisoning the cruel streak that plagued the first two movies and instilling it with a heavy dosage of Cannon Films bombast, the Death Wish series finally delivers a flat-out good time with Death Wish 3. This is easily the funniest one so far. Winner even indulges in a few sight gags (Marty Balsam with a huge gun!) By the time Bronson is draping a chain of bullets around his neck and wielding a gatling gun and rocket launcher, it’s clear we are knee deep in 1980s madness. Kersey’s foes this time are a gang of street hoodlums who zip around on motorbikes and wield chains axes and baseball bats. It’s not far from Charles Bronson vs. The Warriors. The end is an all out bullet ballet of street warfare with cars being transformed into bullet-riddled tin cans and molotov cocktails flung around like tennis balls. There’s also a formidable villain at the head of it all giving Kersey’s vigilanteism an actual target this time rather than a faceless army of thugs. There’s that too, and one of them isn’t faceless because he’s Alex Winter! A fun time serving of Cannon Films entertainment, but as dumb as a bag of hammers.
Watched on blu-ray.
