Death Wish 4: The Crackdown (1987) Cannon Films/Action RT: 99 minutes Rated R (language, strong violence, a rape scene, drugs) Director: J. Lee Thompson Screenplay: Gail Morgan Hickman Music: John Bisharat, Paul McCallum and Valentine McCallum Cinematography: Gideon Porath Release date: November 6, 1987 (US) Cast: Charles Bronson, Kay Lenz, John P. Ryan, Perry Lopez, George Dickerson, Soon-Teck Oh, Dana Barron, Mike Moroff, Dan Ferro, Danny Trejo, Jesse Dabson, Tim Russ, Peter Sherayko, James Purcell, Michael Russo, Daniel Sabia, Hector Mercado, David Fonteno, Tom Everett. Box Office: $6.8 million (US)
Rating: ***
After the pure awesomeness of the previous installment, there was very little chance that Death Wish 4: The Crackdown would measure up and it doesn’t. It’s still pretty good- hey, it’s a Cannon film with Charles Bronson! It just feels a bit different than its predecessors. It may be because Michael Winner didn’t direct this one (he was busy with another film). He’s replaced by J. Lee Thompson, a director who’s worked with Bronson on several occasions (10 to Midnight, The Evil That Men Do and Murphy’s Law). He does a respectable job with Death Wish 4. It contains plenty of cool action scenes and vigilante violence. That’s what really counts, right?
The main difference in this entry is that Bronson’s character is acting more like a hitman than a vigilante this time out. Yes, he wants to avenge the death of a loved one, but there’s more to his rampage than simple revenge. He’s wiping out drug dealers at the behest of a millionaire who’s holding something over his head. So the premise is a bit different in Death Wish 4, but certain other things remain the same. For example, the “Kiss of Death Wish” rule still applies. Well, it wouldn’t be a true Death Wish movie without it.
Paul Kersey is back in L.A. and in a committed relationship with journalist Karen Sheldon (Lenz, House). She has a teenage daughter Erica (Barron, National Lampoon’s Vacation) who adores Paul and aspires to become an architect just like him. Then, the inevitable tragedy strikes. Erica dies from a drug overdose. Kersey tracks down the dealer that gave her the stuff and kills him. A few days later, he receives an anonymous note from somebody who knows what he did. He’s summoned to the mansion of newspaper tycoon Nathan White (Ryan, Avenging Force) who makes Kersey an offer he shouldn’t refuse. He threatens to go to the cops with what he knows about the murdered drug dealer unless Kersey helps him rid L.A. of two major drug gangs. White’s daughter also died of an overdose and he wants to put a stop to the dirtbags that sell drugs to teens. He promises to supply Kersey with whatever he needs, be it weapons or information. Naturally, the vigilante accepts his not-so-modest proposal.
There are two major drug gangs operating in L.A. One is run by Ed Zacharias (Lopez, Chinatown); the other by the Romero brothers, Jack (Moroff, From Dusk Till Dawn) and Tony (Ferro, Blow). An uneasy peace exists between the two gangs, so it won’t take too much effort on Kersey’s part to ignite a war between them. He starts by blowing up three of Zacharias’ best hitmen (one of whom is played by Danny Trejo) in a restaurant with a wine bottle bomb. Say what? Yes, a wine bottle containing a bomb. It would seem that Kersey has gained a few new skills since the last movie.
His next stop is a video store where he takes out the leader (Everett, Hollywood Vice Squad) of the Romeros’ street dealers. Kersey follows that up by throwing their top hit man, the opera-loving Frank Bauggs (Fonteno), from the top floor of a high-rise building.
For a change, the police appear to be actively involved in the case. A couple of detectives, Reiner (Dickerson, Blue Velvet) and Nozaki (Oh, Missing in Action 2), are investigating the murder of the first drug dealer when they’re taken off that case and reassigned to the ongoing slaughter of the drug gang members. It’s only a matter of time until they zero in on Kersey as the man responsible. It’s also a safe bet that Zacharias has a man inside the police department, keeping him informed. The face-off between Zacharias and the Romeros finally happens just over an hour into Death Wish 4 which can only mean there’s something else going on. I’ll put it this way, NEVER trust any character played by Ryan. That is all.
I know that the Death Wish flicks aren’t high art, but that doesn’t give the makers carte blanche to deliver a faulty narrative. Specifically, they mishandle Lenz’ character by dropping her from a good bit of the movie. What’s more, they initially make it seem like she’ll be a major part of action by having her character write a series of articles on the local drug trade. She convinces her editor to okay it, bribes a young dealer to provide her with information and visits a morgue to see the bodies of young people killed because of drugs. We don’t see her again until near the end of the movie and that’s only because the script requires it. Again, the “Kiss of Death Wish” rule.
Granted, that’s a somewhat grievous misstep, but it doesn’t derail Death Wish 4. Nor does the fact that Kersey has become an expert at killing punks. Times have changed and audiences aren’t likely to be thrilled by him using just a handgun so he uses automatic weapons and explosive devices. He did pretty much the same thing in Death Wish 3, that’s true. Except now, he’s more of a one-man army than a mere vigilante. While I like that kind of action movie, it’s far removed from the original concept of the Death Wish movies.
Death Wish 4 does have a cool supporting cast (not as cool as 3, but still pretty cool), but the acting isn’t all that great. Bronson does fine because he just does his thing. In other words, his fans know what to expect from him and he doesn’t disappoint here. But why criticize the acting? Nobody sees a movie like Death Wish 4 for its stellar acting or writing. They go for the action and violence. There’s enough of both to go around. It’s a solid B-movie and a decent choice for a Saturday night action flick.
