The defence The Adrenaline Seeker
“Momentum is a formal choice.”
The velocity sharpens instinct and tension, making every beat land before self-importance can settle in.
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Death Wish II
Action · Crime · Thriller · 1982
Paul Kersey is again a vigilante trying to find five punks who murdered his housekeeper and daughter in Los Angeles.
Movie details
Death Wish II
“He's Planning to Clean Up the City. HIS way!”
1982 Action · Crime · Thriller 1h 32m
Critical arithmetic
The consensus, allegedly.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
IMDb
6.0 / 10
19.5K votes
Metacritic
11 / 100
Metascore
TMDB
6.2 / 10
Community rating
External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.
Paul Kersey is again a vigilante trying to find five punks who murdered his housekeeper and daughter in Los Angeles.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Death Wish II?
For the defence
The Adrenaline Seeker
“If it slows down, you check your phone.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Auteur Devotee
“You watch the director, not the movie.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Death Wish 3
Action · 1985
Architect/vigilante Paul Kersey arrives back in New York City and is forcibly recruited by a crooked police chief to fight street crime caused by a large gang terrorizing the neighborhoods.
Citizen Vigilante
Thriller · 2026
A man takes justice into his own hands, hunting down criminals. His vigilante crusade makes him a social media star but puts him at odds with the local police chief.
Foxy Brown
Action · 1974
A voluptuous black woman takes a job as a high-class prostitute in order to get revenge on the mobsters who murdered her boyfriend.
The Replacement Killers
Action · 1998
Hired assassin John Lee is asked by Chinatown crime boss Terence Wei to murder the young son of policeman Stan Zedkov. Lee has the boy in his sights, but his conscience gets the better of him, and he spares the child's life. Afraid that Wei will take revenge on his family in China, Lee seeks out expert forger Meg Coburn to obtain the passport he needs to get out of the country, but a band of replacement killers is soon on his trail.
The Shepherd: Border Patrol
Action · 2008
A Texas cop battles ex-navy seals who are trying to traffic drugs from Mexico into the USA.
Rise of the Footsoldier
Action · 2007
Carlton Leach rises from one of the most feared generals of the football terraces to becoming a member of a notorious gang of criminals who rampaged their way through London and Essex in the late '80s and early '90s.
Rampage: Capital Punishment
Action · 2014
A man takes over a TV station and holds a number of hostages as a political platform to awaken humanity, instead of money.
Replicant
Action · 2001
Scientists create a genetic clone of a serial killer in order to help catch the killer, teaming up with two cops.
Hard to Kill
Action · 1990
Mason Storm, a 'go it alone' cop, is gunned down at home. The intruders kill his wife, and think they've killed both Mason and his son too. Mason is secretly taken to a hospital where he spends several years in a coma. His son meanwhile is growing up thinking his father is dead. When Mason wakes up, everyone is in danger - himself, his son, his best friend, his nurse - but most of all those who arranged for his death
Death Wish
Action · 2018
A mild-mannered father is transformed into a killing machine after his family is torn apart by a violent act.
Where it lives
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Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.
Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Michael Winner
Written by
David Engelbach · Michael Winner
Charles Bronson
Paul Kersey
Jill Ireland
Geri Nichols
Vincent Gardenia
Det. Frank Ochoa
J.D. Cannon
New York D.A.
Anthony Franciosa
Herman Baldwin
Ben Frank
Inspector Lt. Mankiewicz
Robin Sherwood
Carol Kersey
Court is in session
Put Death Wish II on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Auteur Devotee
“Speed as an alibi.”
The film races past its weak spots and hopes acceleration will keep the audience from inspecting the evidence.