Death Wish 4: The Crackdown

Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) is now living with a new woman and her teenage daughter. Everything is going fine until they're called to the hospital one night and the daughter dies of a drug overdose. Soon another man, who lost his daughter to drugs, asks Kersey to take out not only the dealers but the Mafia guys at the top who are supplying the cocaine. Soon a gang war breaks out with Kersey killing members from both sides.

The DEATH WISH series is one of the most interesting in the history of cinema because all of them are just so different. The first one was a very serious political movie that asked a lot of serious questions. It's easy to see why it was so controversial and its subject is still a hot topic. Part two was an extremely violent exploitation movie that was also controversial due to how brutal and graphic it was. The third film in the series was like a live action cartoon with the over-the-top characters and bizarre gun battles.

This fourth film in the series actually contains the most believable story of all the sequels but at the same time it might have worked better as its own film and not lumped in with the series. After all, how many people can Kersey constantly be losing?

Director J. Lee Thompson once again takes a low-budget movie and adds some life to it. This is certainly true during the opening sequence, which is quite effective and especially how Bronson is introduced. The entire story is actually very well-written and it plays out rather nicely until a switch that happens towards the end, which drags the running time out even more. I thought the idea of going after drug dealers was rather good and especially playing the mob against one another. Obviously Cannon wanted to use the popular DEATH WISH title but at the same time I think the film works better on its own and not being connected.

Bronson turns in a rather energetic performance as he certainly has no problem playing the tough guy. The supporting players, for the most part, are all good in their roles. Once again we're treated to some nice cinematography, a good score and plenty of very good action scenes including one large shoot out in an oil field. Overall it's a very good entry in the series.