When Clyde Shelton’s (Gerard Butler) wife and child are brutally raped and murdered, he turns to the judicial system for justice. His ace prosecutor, Nick Rice (Jamie Foxx) makes a deal with one of the criminals in return for his testimony, thereby getting a softer sentence conviction. This doesn’t hold well with Clyde and is a slap in his face for trusting a lawyer who is only out to keep his conviction rating high. Ten years pass, and Clyde is now ready to administer his own brand of justice. After getting revenge on the criminals, Clyde turns his attention to Nick. He informs Nick, that if he doesn’t fix his flawed ways of being a lawyer, all the people involved in his case will die one by one.
I thought this movie was spectacular. It was a movie for anyone who has lost a loved one to senseless violence, just so the courts can mess up and the criminal doesn’t get what they really deserve. Gerard Butler was excellent as the grief stricken husband, who banishes his own style of justice and revenge. Yeah of course he takes it to the extreme, but these criminals and this lawyer who was only out to better his own status, needed to be taught a lesson. We all know lawyers really don’t care about the clients they represent, and this movie showed just that. Jamie Foxx was also superb as a lawyer who pushed everything in his personal life to the side, while he worked his way up the ladder of success. I like that this movie focused on both sides of the cube. It showed a man wanting justice for the murder of his family, while another man neglected his family for prestige and power.
I give this movie 3 convictions out of 4. It had me interested from beginning to end, especially after the character Clyde gets locked up, but is still able to pull off these amazing revenge plots. The movie runs 2hours and 2mins. It’s rated R for strong bloody brutal violence and torture, a scene of rape and pervasive language. It was written by Kurt Wimmer, Frank Darabont, Sheldon Turner, and David Ayer. It was directed by F. Gary Gray. It was produced by The Film Department, Warp Film, Evil Twins. It was distributed by Overture Films.
Reviewed by Eric Williams
Crimes deserve justice, justice shouldn’t become a crime. Ezo
Next review: TBD
