Death SentenceMovie Reviews

Poster art for "Death Sentence."

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Avg. Critic Score: 36 out of 100 Generally unfavorable reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
16 Iffy for 16+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 70
    Variety | Justin Chang

    Well-made, often intensely gripping genre piece. Read full review

  • 63
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    Wan's movie is very efficient. Bacon, skilled pro that he is, provides the character the movie needs, just as he has in such radically different films as "Where the Truth Lies," "The Woodsman" and "Mystic River." Read full review

  • 50
    Boston Globe |

    The cynics will slap their foreheads, the squeamish will cover their eyes, but the revenge movie fanatics should be nice and satisfied after the whole ordeal. Read full review

  • 50
    The Hollywood Reporter | Frank Scheck

    Bears more than a slight connection to the landmark of the genre, 1974's "Death Wish," starring Charles Bronson. It is based on novelist Brian Garfield's sequel to his original book, though any resemblance is tenuous at best. Read full review

  • 50
    Los Angeles Times | Jan Stuart

    While there is the requisite amount of shorn limbs and splashing blood one might expect from the director of "Saw," Wan should be saluted for putting the coup de grce off-screen. Read full review

  • 50
    Washington Post | Desson Thomson

    Death Sentence, directed by "Saw" co-creator James Wan, swings the pendulum too far. One day Nick is a mild-mannered nerd who spends his days making (and loving) risk assessments for his company; the next, he's Travis Bickle from 1976's "Taxi Driver." Read full review

  • 40
    The New York Times |

    Aside from a stunning three-minute tracking shot as the gang pursues Nick through a parking garage, and Mr. Bacon's hauntingly pale, dark-eyed visage, Mr. Wan's film is a tedious, pandering time-waster. Read full review

  • 25
    San Francisco Chronicle |

    Almost everything about the movie lands with an emphatic, preordained thud. Read full review

  • 25
    Entertainment Weekly | Owen Gleiberman

    The morality of revenge is barely at issue in a movie that pushes the plausibility of revenge right over a cliff. Read full review

  • 25
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    This film is so superficial and shifts so jarringly in tone that nothing feels authentic -- not Bacon's hard-working husband and father, nor his maniacal vengeance seeker. Read full review

View more reviews for Death Sentence on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 16+ Vigilante justice turns ugly and painful. No kids.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this revenge drama/thriller isn't for kids in any way. Following the transformation of an orderly, mild-mannered insurance executive into a brutal killer, the film is basically a series of violent acts, each one payback for the one that preceded it. Bloody violence includes shooting, stabbing, fighting, and car chases and crashes. In one scene, a young man enters a motel room with a prostitute hired by his brother (but nothing explicit is shown). There are references to drug trade and use, as well as some smoking and drinking and lots of language, particularly "f--k."
  • Families can talk about the film's messages about both family and revenge. How does vengeance become a way of showing loyalty in this movie? Does the movie support or argue against that idea? How? Do you think any of the violence is justified? Why or why not? Is violence ever the right response to a wrong done against someone? Why do we see so much of that in the movies?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: A father's campaign of vengeance against the gang members who kill his son leads to more sorrow and pain.
What to watch for
  • violence false5 Violence: Bloody, loud, aggressive violence throughout; participants' bodies are increasingly marked by cuts, scars, bruises, and welts. Fatal and otherwise brutal action includes shooting (shotguns, handguns), knifing (close-up, blade sunk into chest), kicking and beating, and car crashing (a young man is slammed by a car, in a startling, disturbing way). A car falls off a parking garage upper floor, killing the person inside. Police officers are shown with their throats cut (bloody). Gang members shoot family in cold blood; the camera lingers on the bloody bodies. Final shootout goes on for several minutes, with lots blood, shadows, and fast editing.
  • sex false3 Sex: Billy enters a motel room with a prostitute (she wears revealing clothes and is seen from a distance, in shadows), and his brother hands him a condom. Nick appears in a shower, grieving and bruised.
  • language false5 Language: Nearly 100 uses of "f--k," plus assorted other profanity (not surprising for a violent revenge movie), including "s--t," "ass," "damn," and "son of a bitch." Also, some instances of slang for male genitals ("d--k" and "pr--k").
  • consumerism false0 Consumerism: Car brands mark "masculine" progression: Nick first drives a Ford but eventually takes the villains' muscle car.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3 Drinking, drugs and smoking: A couple of scenes are set in a meth lab. Some celebratory drinking of champagne. Gang members drink beer and shots in a dark bar. References to drug use (a man taps his arm to indicate heroin use, a couple appears nodding or "high"). Billy and other gang members smoke cigarettes.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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Dave White

2.5

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… it sucks, but I liked it … Read full review See Dave White's on MOVIENAME on Movies.com

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