DEATH WISH II

US, 1982, 89 minutes, Colour.
Charles Bronson, Jill Ireland, Vincent Gardenia, Anthony Franciosa, J.D. Cannon.
Directed by Michael Winner.

Death Wish II capitalises on the box office success of the 1974 original, Death Wish. Once again the director is Michael Winner, who directed Charles Bronson in such films as Chato's Land, The Stone Killer, The Mechanic. Michael Winner is considered a flashy director, full of camera tricks and emphasises the violence in his screenplay. This is evident here.

Death Wish II is both a sequel and a remake of the original. The hero once again experiences violence and murder with the death of his daughter. Reminding him of the death of her mother in the original film. Once again there are thugs, confrontations by the hero and his taking justice into his own vigilante hands. The original was set in New York and capitalised on the atmosphere of the city. This film uses the background of Los Angeles. This time the hero is given a girlfriend, played by Bronson's wife, Jill Ireland in her rather deadpan way. Vincent Gardenia re-creates his Police Commissioner from the original film - only to be violently killed in this one. While the original film raised emotions and questions about violence in the American streets, the inadequacy of law enforcement and the temptation to vigilantism, this film raises the same kind of questions but the raising of them is all surface, a repeat and capitalising of the original material. The subject is still relevant for the early '80s, but the film seems to be firmly anchored in the Charles Bronson vehicles of the mid-' 70s.