Death Wish 2 (1982) Full Review

Film Scene Investigation

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00:00hey guys welcome back it's me Bo here on the film scene investigation channel hope

00:18everyone is doing good in today's video I'm going to be reviewing the 1982 Michael

00:26Winner movie Death Wish 2 so Death Wish from 1982 was the sequel to the original Death Wish from 1974

00:38the director from the first installment Michael Winner returned to the director's chair along

00:45with leading man Charles Bronson now first and foremost I am a huge fan of this film I've seen

00:54it many times and yeah it doesn't disappoint in every sense Death Wish 2 was a big improvement

01:04over the original and it was also a box office success I've seen all five of the Death Wish movies

01:14and by far Death Wish 2 for me is the best in the series while the later films became a little bit

01:26more silly and bombastic the second installment featured the perfect blend of action and drama

01:35the story followed Charles Bronson's character Paul Kersey now living in Los Angeles with his

01:42girlfriend Jerry Nichols played by actress Jill Island by all accounts it seemed like Paul was happy and

01:52content with his new life and was no longer haunted by the events from the first film we saw Paul collect

02:02his daughter Carol from a psychiatric hospital where she'd been staying Carol played by actress Robin Sherwood

02:11had been severely affected by the events from the first film and only now had started to show signs of recovery

02:22this was eight years after the original attack that happened in New York yet Carol was still suffering the consequences

02:34while visiting a local fairground with his daughter Paul was targeted by a group of scumbags who stole his wallet in the process

02:45the gang which included a young Lawrence Fishburne surrounded Paul and attacked him before he got a chance to defend himself

02:55showing no signs of fear Paul decided to chase the group down in an attempt to retrieve his belongings he ended up cornering

03:05one guy called Jiva but was unable to get his wallet back he was quite rightly upset about what happened but Paul decided to take the

03:18high road and just forget about it yet the thugs weren't finished with him while searching through the stolen wallet the gang

03:28discovered Paul's home address and decided to drive to his apartment once they arrived they broke into Paul's

03:35home and began sexually assaulting the house cleaner who was plagued by actress Sandra Gallardo this assault just went on

03:45forever it seemed like it never ended and with the severity of the assault itself there was no mistake that these five

03:56scumbags were utterly disturbed they were a real group of sadistic individuals not fit to live in any society

04:07Paul and Carol would eventually leave the fairground and return home where they walked in on the assault

04:15taking place before Paul could get help or do anything he was attacked by the group and knocked unconscious Carol the innocent

04:29bystander was then kidnapped by the gang hurled into a van and driven off to a warehouse this would all lead to a scene later on

04:42where we saw Carol subjected to yet another sexual assault this guy called punk cut played by actor

04:51Lamont Johnson was all over Carol as she just laid there completely helpless this was very hard scene to sit

05:02through you know Carol you know she wasn't screaming she wasn't fighting back she was just laying there

05:09taking the abuse we then saw Carol attempt to escape and ended up running out of a window she ended up impaling

05:21herself on some rails outside in a very horrific death this was a shocking moment that um I didn't see coming at all

05:32you know it all happened so fast I mean one minute Carol was just lying there almost in a comatose state the next she was running out of a window and then she was dead

05:47you know picking apart the sequence of events it was clear that the assault pushed Carol over the edge

05:57and made her commit suicide she was psychologically unstable and now having been attacked again

06:10it was you know all too much for her to handle Carol didn't realize what she was doing the only thing that

06:18she knew was that she couldn't just sit there and wait for another scumbag to come and attack her she had to

06:27escape and she didn't care how she did it whether it be through a door or out of a window

06:35Paul Kersey would later find out about what happened to Carol and assumed that the gang had thrown her out of the building

06:45in his eyes the gang had not only kidnapped his daughter but they had killed her as well

06:52this was another tragic blow for Paul Kersey who eventually returned to his old ways and began hunting

07:02down the scumbags one by one unlike the original death wish this time around Paul knew who the attackers

07:11were he had seen their faces before so this time around Kersey was able to get revenge on the exact

07:20people responsible in the 1974 original Paul reacted to those events by randomly attacking any street trash

07:32that got in his way while it was good to see Paul Kersey take out the New York street trash

07:39this time around I did prefer seeing Kersey you know get revenge on the actual culprits

07:48you know with death wish 2 things were a lot more calculated Paul had a plan he knew what he was going

07:58to do and had zero remorse for those responsible after Carol's funeral Paul returned to work keeping

08:08up appearances and pretended that he was okay people were rallying around him trying to support him but Paul

08:19was putting on this brave face to fool everyone Paul actually started living a double life prowling the

08:29degenerate LA streets mixing with the likes of junkies and prostitutes all in the attempt to track down the

08:37the gang that kidnapped his daughter his work his relationship with Jerry you know

08:46it all became secondary with his main focus on getting revenge

08:53so the remainder of the movie saw Paul Kersey hunt down and kill the various street thugs responsible

09:02once Paul had returned to his vigilante ways the film really did kick into high gear

09:10Kersey began dealing out the street justice that the courts could never deliver there's one scene in

09:19particular that I love where we saw Kersey follow one of the gang members into an abandoned hotel building

09:28the thug played by actor Kevin Howard was dealing drugs when suddenly Paul Kersey came out from the darkness

09:36with his gun pointed towards him there was this memorable line from Kersey about how the thug was about to meet

09:45Jesus before he shot him dead it was a great scene and it really showcased Paul Kersey's

09:54no-nonsense attitude he wasn't messing around he meant business and was going to do everything he could

10:03to take out all of the gang members the look and feel of death wish 2 was another brilliant aspect of the

10:12movie that I wanted to mention the cinematography was top quality especially the nighttime sequences of

10:21Paul Kersey prowling the streets of downtown Los Angeles there was a mood there was a an atmosphere that was created

10:33the dark underbelly of society shown in all its glory death wish 2 definitely looked the part with the

10:44later sequels looking rather cheap in comparison one key factor that helped create the film's dark and

10:54violent aesthetic was the amazing soundtrack from musician Jimmy Page the legendary guitarist from Led Zeppelin

11:06contributed several tracks to the film and I must say the material was fantastic it's one of my favorite

11:15soundtracks of all time and it definitely left his mark the unique soundscape that Jimmy Page created

11:25blended perfectly with the dark and brooding imagery that was on screen at times

11:33the music almost was like another character within the story it was it was that powerful it was an intriguing

11:44and compelling effort by Jimmy Page who sadly didn't go on to produce any further film scores

11:52and saw dislikes for death wish 2 from 1982 my biggest dislike for this movie would have to be the

12:06prolonged sex sequence that took place in Paul's apartment so as I've already mentioned early in the film we saw the

12:15cleaner Rosario get brutally assaulted by the gang now I've never been that comfortable watching these types of sequences

12:26most of the time they're overtly sexualized and really add nothing to the narrative when it comes to

12:36this specific scene in death wish 2 I understood the context it had with the story but I did find the execution

12:47very distasteful and kind of mean-spirited there was no legitimate reason for the director Michael Winner to

13:00include such a prolonged sequence of sexual torture yes we understand we get it these guys are scumbags and

13:11they need to be stopped but uh yeah I don't know I the sequence just didn't need to drag on for so long

13:20it almost felt like Winner was purposely pushing the boundaries to see what he could get away with

13:30now you know in fairness it could be argued that the director was attempting to almost dehumanize the

13:38group so that when they were eventually killed by Paul Kersey the audience felt no sympathy for them

13:46but I don't know it just seemed a little too absurd for my liking and with the heavy sexual brutality on

13:55show it caused mass censorship when the film was released causing hysteria in the media journalists

14:03were having a field day shaming the film for its harsh depictions of on-screen violence and while the film

14:11did capitalize on the controversy no doubt it cheapened its overall reputation with audiences

14:21who believed that death wish 2 was pure and simply just exploitation in actuality this movie

14:31holds a lot more substance than people might think it does but yeah the reputation of death wish 2

14:38was definitely tarnished another dislike I want to quickly mention was the lack of screen time between

14:46the characters Paul Kersey and Lieutenant Ochoa so throughout the film Ochoa played by actor Vincent

14:55Gardena was tasked to track down Kersey and you know prevent further bloodshed it was this uh cat and

15:04mouse game if you will with the detective always a few steps behind Paul Kersey the two characters would

15:12eventually meet but only for a very brief moment before Ochoa died of a gunshot wound now in terms of

15:19the context to the story it made sense and it was a well executed scene I just wish that the characters

15:29had a more prolonged scene together because ultimately the two actors had a very good

15:36on-screen chemistry in the original death wish the two characters had a lot more scenes together and

15:45yeah I really really liked their back and forth discussions but um sadly for the sequel that was sadly missing

15:53and so ratings for death wish 2 I'm going to be rating this movie a solid 8 out of 10 when it comes to sequels

16:06death wish 2 really did outshine the original 1974 cult classic it had a better story there was more action

16:17and a brilliant soundtrack by Jimmy Page you know I think some credit has to go to the director Michael

16:26Winner who came back and delivered a vastly improved follow-up to his original work sequels

16:35don't always live up to the original I mean there's been a lot of bad sequels over the years but um

16:45yeah in in this instance I thought Winner produced a superior installment the best of the franchise

16:55while the acting performances were nothing special this was a thoroughly enjoyable 90 minutes of gritty

17:0580s action the film maintained this steady and engaging pace and at no time was I bored when it comes to

17:16recommendations I absolutely recommend death wish 2 but um my advice for anyone out there who hasn't seen it

17:25yet would be to watch the original 1974 version and then watch death wish 2 two films back to back make a

17:36brilliant double feature for those who have seen death wish 2 let me know your thoughts in the comments

17:43section below and well that's all from me today guys I hope you have enjoyed the review I'll be back next week with

17:50some more content don't forget to subscribe and of course take care

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