One of the more recent ventures into the world of the revenge movie, Death Sentence was
Movie poster
released in 2007 and not to much critical acclaim, but it is what it is and, as they say, it does what it says on the tin. Kevin Bacon is not an actor one would usually associate with action films but the very nature of revenge films means unexpected characters become heros.
It’s a fairly simple story of death and revenge, then more death and it’s worth a watch if you’ve got nothing better to do. The first part of the film introduces Nick (Bacon) and his son Brendan (Stuart Lafferty), a talented ice hockey player. Driving Stuart home from a match one day, a stop at a gas station turns into a tragedy when a local gang member is robbing the premises. Stuart is mortally injured by the thug (Joe) and Nick manages to catch a glimpse of Joe’s face as he escapes.
Fearing that Joe will not receive an adequate prison sentence, Nick drops any charges against him and takes the laws into his own hands, tracking Joe down to his home and kills him.
The stage is now set for the second part of the film and this features Joe’s older brother Billy, the leader of the gang, who now wants revenge for his brother’s death. At first unsure of the identity of the culprit, another gang member reveals that Nick may have been seen in the area that evening and Billy realises that Nick is of course responsible.
The gang ambush Nick who manages to escape unharmed. In the process he kills another gang member which only serves to infuriate Billy even further. The police now become involved, placing Nick and his wife Helen (Kelly Preston) and second son Luke (Jordan Garrett) under their protection. The police protection proves to be particularly ineffective and the officers involved in the operation are all killed when Billy’s gang attack the location where they are residing.
In the ensuing violence, Helen is killed and Luke is badly injured, resulting in him falling into a coma in hospital. At this point Nick finds himself in a position where he nothing left to lose and heads to a local gun dealer to obtain a weapon for the task ahead. The gun dealer is Bones Darley (John Goodman) who, in an unlikely twist, happens to be the father of Billy. The pair have now fallen out and ultimately Billy kills his father after another disagreement.
Once armed, Nick heads to the gang’s hideout known as ‘The Office’. Here, in a final shootout, Nick and Billy injure each other; Billy’s injuries are worse and he dies after a second shot from Nick. There’s a strange conversation here in which Billy seems to have an attack of conscience but in the context of the film it doesn’t really fit.
Staggering home, the last we see of Nick is him badly injured, sitting watching videos of his family. A detective arrives and gives him the welcome news that Luke will be OK.