 DEATH Sentence updates Brian Garfield’s 1975 novel (the sequel to Death Wish) to a present day America riddled with drugs and gun-related gang violence. It begins with insurance company executive Nick Hume (Bacon), whose family – pretty wife and teenage sons – are the picture of middle-class, suburban perfection. On the way home from a hockey game with his son Brendan, Nick stops for petrol, while his son buys a drink. In an instant, Balaclava-clad thugs burst into the station, killing the cashier and fatally injuring Brendan. When the justice system fails Nick and his family, the normally demure businessman reluctantly takes matters into his own hands, confronting the thugs with tragic consequences. Verdict: For the first hour, Death Sentence is a thoroughly gripping thriller. Director James Wan sets a brisk pace, building to a frenetic running battle through the streets, which culminates in a tense game of cat and mouse in a multi-storey car park. The climax to the foot chase is truly extraordinary. Shot in a single take lasting more than three nerve-racking minutes, the camera sprints after the stricken hero as he tries to outpace the bad guys, seamlessly moving between floors before rising to the top storey where the hunt takes a dramatic twist. Amidst the huffing and puffing, the film milks every drop of despair from the morally conflicted protagonist, as he wrestles with that most poisonous and primal impulse – revenge. And then, just as the film seems to be coasting along, Death Sentence runs out of momentum and plausibility. As shotgun blasts sever digits and entire limbs, tension evaporates and the tug of war between good and evil degenerates into an unintentionally funny showdown. Bacon conveys the torment of his everyman with aplomb, but the emotional turmoil abates in the second act as he is reduced to scowling as his avenger miraculously dodges almost every bullet that comes his way. Violence begets violence, and sometimes even a simple, intelligent set-up begets an inelegant, dumb pay-off. | 
