“Death Wish” (Crime/Action: 1 hour, 47 minutes)

Starring: Bruce Willis, Vincent D’Onofrio, Elisabeth Shue and Dean Norris

Director: Eli Roth

Rated: R (Profanity, violence and thematic elements)

Movie Review: Based on the 1974 “Death Wish” directed by Michael Winner and starring Charles Bronson, the current version is the sixth movie based on characters from Brian Garfield’s novel. The 2018 edition is invitingly entertaining, but it does not have the conclusive resolve of the original. 

Dr. Paul Kersey (Willis) becomes a vigilante after his wife, Lucy (Shue), and daughter Jordan (Camila Morrone) are attacked, resulting in the death of his wife. Paul makes it a goal to execute his own form of justice on those that hurt his family. As a doctor, Paul took an oath to save lives, but he begins distributing his style of justice to lawbreakers everywhere.

Audiences know Eli Roth’s movies for their violence and gore. The notables are “Cabin Fever” (2002), “Hostel” (2005) and “The Green Inferno” (2013). Here, he remains on topic, but one never feels for characters presented. Even though they face several hardships, their emotions never create sincere sympathy, enough to care for these people.

This exists because Bruce Willis is a tough guy. He turns this into an action movie. It is not a typical revenge movie that garners sympathy for the lead character. Instead, one wants Willis’ Dr. Kersey to stop the evildoers. You cheer for his efforts, but an emotional attachment to his part never matures. Part of this notion is because Willis is not the type of actor that inspires in a purely dramatic role.

“Death Wish” concentrates mainly on one man’s goal to avenge his family. It does so without creating a world of peril to be persuasive. It entertains and is fun, but it is too tidy in the vain of an action flick rather than a survival flick.

Grade: C+ (Engaging but not memorable.)

“Red Sparrow” (Mystery/Thriller: 2 hours, 20 minutes)

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Edgerton, Matthias Schoenaerts and Charlotte Rampling

Director: Francis Lawrence

Rated: R (Strong violence, torture, sexual content including rape, profanity and nudity)

Movie Review: Jennifer Lawrence and Director Francis Lawrence (“The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” 2013) team up again for this spy versus spy movie. 

Despite its bold approach to the secret-agent genre, “Red Sparrow’s” audacious nature is more interesting than its characters. The actions of characters are more interesting than the formulaic personas. Thus, it fails to be as engrossing as it could be.

Dominika Egorova (Lawrence), a former ballerina turned novice Russian intelligence officer, has an assignment to seduce Nate Nash (Edgerton) of the Central Intelligence Agency. 

Nash’s goal is to protect a high-ranking mole within Russian intelligence. His mission is a sensitive one, but Egorova is an effective, seductive agent. 

Both operatives must maneuver their desires for each other and that of their respective governments.

Jennifer Lawrence returns as another character with a dark personality. All of her characters are mainly dark. She leaves nothing to the imagination as Dominika Egorova. Violent acts, sex and nudity are plentiful.

Murder, nudity and sex take center stage as characters have little chemistry with each other. As previously noted, the characters’ actions displace their motives. The players of this espionage drama are not given enough time to evolve their characters who are uneven throughout. 

The characters also appear to exist in different worlds, as if in different screenplays — the interactions are lacking. Even more, many of their actions are not explained.

Numerous scenes appear to go without explanation in Justin Haythe’s screenplay. Perhaps, one will have to read Jason Matthews’ book to fill in the gaps. However, one should not have to do that. A movie should stand alone as a different medium, an abridged interpretation of the book. 

This movie could easily be a movie and a sequel.

Grade: C (Bold, fails to maintain a convincing character consistency.)