Death Sentence (2007)

Australian filmmaker James Wan, who is best known for his 2004 Horror classic SAW and producer of its sequels, took a break from the horror movie genre in late 2006 and switch to his other favorite genre: Action Thriller, to direct Kevin Bacon in 20th Century Fox’s 2007 movie DEATH SENTENCE. Loosely based on the 1975 novel by Brian Garfield, Nick Hume (Bacon) is a mild mannered business executive with a loving family and a perfect life until one night it all changes when he witnesses his teenage son murdered by a violent street gang, led by a vicious skinhead name Billy Darley (Garrett Hedlund). With being not satisfied by courtroom justice, Nick transforms by taking the law into his own hands, wages an all out war with the street thugs, and most importantly: Protect his family. I thought this was very entertaining to watch. It was both gritty and very realistic. I thought both Bacon and Hedlund were fantastic in their roles. The film also stars Kelly Preston (For Love of the Game) as Nick’s wife Helen, Aisha Tyler (TV’s Talk Soup) as Detective Jessica Wallis, Matt O’ Leary (Sorority Row) as Joe Darley, Edi Gathegi (Twilight) as Bodie, Leigh Whannell (Wan’s film partner) as Spink, and John Goodman, who I thought was funny as gun dealer Bones Darley. I think the best scenes would have to be when Nick preps himself by killing the thugs with A .12 Gauge Rossi Overland shotgun with a 26 inch barrel, a .357 Magnum Colt Python revolver, and a .45 M1911A1 pistol. In the novel, the setting took place in Boston but Wan choose to make the film in Columbia, South Carolina because it had a generic look to it and it almost passed as Anywhere, USA. Although it’s in the spirit of the Charles Bronson film DEATH WISH and wasn’t successful at the box office, I still consider DEATH SENTENCE one of those movies that I think are entertaining to watch.