Law Abiding Citizen

An above average and thoughtful film led by the talented Gerard Butler. I was glowing and gobbling it up the entire time. I was a bit more disappointed with the ending. It's happened a few times before that a brilliant film has been brought down by a pointlessly simple ending. This is a prime example. Otherwise, Butler is great again! He handles every genre with aplomb. 4.5 stars. (12/05/2011)

I hereby notify all upstanding citizens that Foxx is about as endearing here as any regular politician and Butler didn’t even attempt to endow his character with the charisma needed to command due respect. And if that weren’t enough, while writing this weak broth made from the first part of Saw, they looked up the term “shocking twist" but mixed up the definition with that for “load of hogwash". (23/01/2010)

Imagine a drunk fan watching a football match and forgetting who he is cheering for. At least that’s how Gray's film seemed to me. It tries to look very serious, but as a result ends up with proven truths and clichés. A well-creased punk who drinks coca-cola while dreaming of absolute anarchy. But if I think away from the really poor imitation of playing with the motif of system corruption, then this is quite a suitable thriller. Neither Butler nor Fox give us anything more than we are used to seeing, Gray is gracefully satisfactory, and Law Abiding Citizen rides more on a wave of positive impressions. If only the film sometimes didn't pretend to be a smarty-pants and didn't act like a glued monkey... (13/11/2009)

F. Gary Gray is indeed a routine artist, and probably will be forever, but I would be lying if I said Citizen is not an interesting and relatively thrilling movie at certain moments. I was surprised by the brutality of some scenes and the R rating, but I was not surprised by the awkward twist and the average screenplay. There is a decent chemistry between Butler and Foxx, but they exploit it only halfway (greetings to the screenwriter),.The pyrotechnic effects like Backdraft and the shootout in the cemetery evoking Sheriff were a pleasant retro touch. (20/02/2010)

The fusion of classic "revenge movies" with modern hi-tech toys promised all sorts of things, only to fall short of the promise itself. This is due to Gray’s routinization, which doesn't exceed the scope of the trailer in terms of action. Additionally, Wimmer's thought castration tries to combine themes of revenge (on whom and why?), the indictment of the judicial system, and family drama so clumsily and desperately that I now suspect the editor of sabotage, resulting in half an hour of footage disappearing into the void. The film has no gradation, no logical progression, and no tension to speak of. There are just a couple of crashing cars, a gloomy Butler (a good thing), a slimy Foxx (the last good thing), and the status of the year's greatest missed opportunity. (09/12/2009)