Death Wish (1974) vs Death Wish (2018)

'74 by far.

1974 - 9/10
2018 - 5/10

Most of his more recent work is after he both stopped caring and was having his mental health issues.

Death Wish is one of his better performances of the last decade.

1974. From what I understand, the original film hit a nerve and caused a ripple. Sensation might be too strong of a word, but its impact was felt. People talked about it and it asked audiences to actually think. Was vigilantism acceptable in a society that seems to have lost control?

The 2018 film landed and died with a thud that no one seemed to notice. Even if the original was a technically worse film, which in my opinion it isn’t, it left a mark and is remembered. That’s a lot more than can be said about a remake that has already been forgotten.

Since you asked about Willis, from what I remember he was totally bland and gave a pedestrian performance. He did not seem compelled by or committed to the material. Granted, when I saw it about a year after its release, I didn’t know Willis was already suffering from a degenerative condition. Would I view him more favorably knowing what I know now? Perhaps. Then again, I have thought he’s phoned in more than his fair share of performances throughout his career, regardless of any conditions. Was there a time in his career where he could have done noticeably more with the material? I think so but, alas, the script doesn’t do him a lot of favors. One change in the story is that the protagonist is now a doctor. I thought they could have done A LOT with that new angle, but it seems totally wasted here - much like Willis himself.

Perhaps what surprised(or disappointed) me the most was that this was an Eli Roth film….but hell if you could tell while watching it. Maybe it’s unfair to project certain expectations based on the director, but one can be forgiven asking “where’s the beef?”. I don’t think a whole lot of him as a filmmaker, but he does have a certain trademark that could have helped! This could have used the livening up of Roth’s usual carnage. Either he wasn’t up to it, wanted to play it “straight” or the studio interfered.

In my honest opinion, the Kevin Bacon/James Wan collaboration Death Sentence was a more worthy remake of Death Wish.

Just my two cents.

Okay, I just looked and I have actually barely seen any of his movies since Sin City 2, because I generally don't watch direct-to-video movies. 

I have watched reviews for many of his direct-to-video movies though and he looks awful in them.

I've probably seen even less, except I did happen to see him live on Broadway when he did Misery. He had an ear piece and Laurie Metcalf acted circles around him, but he was probably already ill at the time.

The last time I was impressed with him was probably Death Becomes Her. I mean, I like the guy, but I never thought he was that great an actor, especially once he started leaning away from his comic sensibilities into mellow stoicism. Ironic since I'm named after one of his characters.

Maybe. Did you know he was really pissed he wasn't nominated for Pulp Fiction? Half the jokes at his Comedy Central Roast were about him never getting an Oscar, which I'd never guess was something he even wanted.