(1985)
1.5
Donald Guarisco
Charles Bronson made many outrageous action vehicles during his Cannon Films era, but this may be the most bizarre of the bunch. Death Wish 3 dispenses without any pretense toward believability in characterization, plotting, or dialogue as it once again puts the character of Paul Kersey through his urban-vigilante paces. The only new wrinkle comes with a plot thread in which the police chief (played in amusingly broad style by Ed Lauter) gives Kersey his under-the-table approval to go out there and start bumping off thugs for his police department and even that turns out to be a quickly dropped throwaway notion. On the plus side, the film does offer a decent supporting cast, which also includes Deborah Raffin and Martin Balsam, and director Michael Winner gives the proceedings a professional look and pace; however, the film's mechanical nature and absurd plotting make it impossible for the viewer to get invested in the story, especially when Kersey and his enemies turn the neighborhood into an urban war zone during an absurdly over-the-top finale. In short, the utter ludicrousness of Death Wish 3 may amuse bad-movie buffs but is likely to baffle anyone expecting a quality film.
Death Wish 3 on AllMovie
Death Wish 3 (1985)
