Directed by F.Gary Gray, and starring Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler, Law abiding citizen follows the story of a man who witnesses the murder of his wife and child, and decides to take justice into his own hands.
Knowing this was a revenge thriller, product of Hollywood, I had average expectations, and, depending how you look at the film, that's what I received. With the exception however of the initial story which was surprisingly enticing and clever, ignoring the horrific and unnecessary torture scene. As the plot thickens however things begin to get more and more cliched , showing an annoyingly similar resemblance to David Fincher's 'Se7en'. The story however is very messy, at times being very simple, then leading off into a dead-end in which they never really return to, creating many frustrating 'pot-holes' .The character's were mainly quite linear and predictable, with the exception of Gerard Butler whom I thought played his character as well as he could with the sloppy dialogue he was given. However even the main role was cliched, showing (at times) a clear resemblance to 'Hannibal' from the 'Silence of the lambs'.
Nothing in this film actually surprised me apart from the slightly shocking ending, every action was foreseeable, which includes the 'final destination' 'esque' deaths! Which involved, characters saying a ridiculous line, (all to happily) before a ridiculous death. Which brings me onto my next point, this film is given an 18 certificate, and for everyone who's seen the film you'll know why, but this certificate does not mean that you have to include everything that comes under an 18, but clearly the director felt that this should be done, including the most graphic and unnecessary torture and death scenes I've ever seen and of course we were exposed to every one of them.
The dialogue is very sloppy, preposterous and (continuing in the tradition) cliched! Delivering such lines as 'Release me...Or what...Or I kill everyone!'. This almost makes the film a joke, like their taking the Micky out of their own film because they know it's ridiculous.
Overall I actually thought this film could've been quite good, if it had been put into the right hands, unfortunately it wasn't handled with care, and with that inevitably comes; glaring pot holes, a ridiculous and completely un-original story-line and the dialogue of a B-movie.
40%- The initial story-line should keep you going till the end but don't expect to be satisfied by the lack-luster final product.
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