Revenge flicks rule! I’ve been a fan of this genre since I first saw Death Wish and I can never get enough of them. In the eighties they were a dime a dozen, but in the current remake/PG-13 climate these flicks are few and far between. Law Abiding Citizen must have slipped through the cracks because it is most definitely a revenge flick, and a good one at that.

Clyde Shelton (Gerard Butler) is a family man that that is forced to take the law into his own hands after his lawyer (Jamie Foxx) makes a deal that sets one of his wife and daughter’s murderers free. Shelton doesn’t rush out to exact his revenge immediately, he decides to wait 10 years and to meticulously plan out their demise in precise detail. So precise is his attention to detail that he is able to kill from behind bars.

Brilliant! Law Abiding Citizen follows the standard revenge flick conventions, then throws a wrench into the mix. It totally puts the audience in Shelton’s corner for the first quarter of the movie, only to quickly split his supporters after Shelton decides that everyone, including the lowly file clerk or legal assistant connected to the release of his wife and daughter’s murderer must die.

Director F. Gary Gray did a tremendous job of creating the perfect balance of love and hate for Jamie Fox’s character Nick Rice, while allowing Gerard Butler to shine as the titular character. I was really impressed with his visual style as well as his pacing. Gray is definitely going to be added to my list of directors to watch.

Law Abiding Citizen was a fun adrenaline fueled thrill ride that left me begging for more, it is positively a killer film. The only complaint I have is that I would have enjoyed watching Shelton kill more people and cause more carnage.

Rating:

Tags: Death Wish, F. Gary Gray, Gerard Butler, Jamie Foxx, Law Abiding Citizen