Death Wish 4: The Crackdown

Directed by J. Lee Thompson, Death Wish 4: The Crackdown follows Charles Bronson’s Paul Kersey as he orchestrates a war between rival drug cartels after his girlfriend’s (Kay Lenz’s Karen) daughter (Dana Barron’s Erica) overdoses. Filmmaker Thompson, armed with Gail Morgan Hickman’s screenplay, kicks Death Wish 4: The Crackdown off with a striking dream sequence that certainly grabs one’s interest and attention right from the get-go, with the movie, beyond that point, seguing into a more-of-the-same narrative that nevertheless remains fairly watchable due to its performances and smattering of compelling action sequences. Bronson’s predictably commanding efforts do, in terms of the former, go a long way towards perpetuating the picture’s tolerable atmosphere, and it’s clear, as well, that Thompson elicits strong work from such compelling periphery players as George Dickerson and Perry Lopez. (John P. Ryan, playing Paul’s mysterious benefactor, ultimately offers up a scenery-chewing turn that remains an obvious highlight within the proceedings.) By the time the agreeably larger-than-life climax rolls around, in which the final bad guy’s method of execution is surprisingly recycled from the previous film, Death Wish 4: The Crackdown has cemented its place as a decent-enough entry within a far-from-flawless series of movies.

**1/2 out of ****