Death Wish 3 (1985)

Directed by Michael Winner. Starring Charles Bronson, Ed Lauter, Martin Balsam, Deborah Raffin, Gavan O’Herlihy, Joseph Gonzalez, Leo Kharibian, Hana Maria Pravda. [R]

Back in New York (though filmed primarily in England), Bronson once again arms himself and goes out to dispatch vigilante justice to street trash. Just as tacky and exploitative as the previous sequel, but less concerned with grim reality and consequences; for the most part, the violence is more cartoonish in nature, and law enforcement is no longer painted as merely being feckless—now they’re corrupt to the point of aiding the taciturn loose cannon. Taking a cue from Rambo, the last half-hour removes itself from reality altogether—they trot out machine-guns, grenades, even a rocket launcher, raise the body count to several dozen if not triple digits, and even the poor, innocent civilians join in on the mayhem. That level of absurdity frees it at least in part from the moral turpitude that plagued the earlier pictures, but it’s also less interesting, more of a cheapjack cash-in than a new spin on old material. Director Winner was dissatisfied with the film and wouldn’t return to the franchise; Bronson was also unhappy with it, but he would come back. Film debut for Alex Winter playing a gang member.

21/100