Death Sentence (2007)

".. brutal and satisfying..." USA Today Claudia Puig

Review
If I didn't read the review first and just following the first scene.. I would not think this gonna be a brutal action thriller. When a family falls victim to a vicious attack perpetrated as a gang initiation ritual, the vengeful father vows to tract down each person involved in the crime in Saw director James Wan and screenwriter Ian Jeffers feature adaptation of author Brian Garfield's original novel. Aisha Tyler co-stars as the sympathetic homicide detective who questions her pledge to assist Bacon's character after suspecting that he may have turned to murder as a means of exacting his revenge.

My rate & Comment	* * * * Violent .. but also emotional. Its kinda predictable but still entertaining.
Directed by	James Wan
Produced by	Ashok Amritraj, Howard Baldwin, Karen Elise Baldwin
Written by	Screenplay: Ian Jeffers, Brian Garfield (uncredited) Novel: Brian Garfield
Starring	Kevin Bacon, Garrett Hedlund, Kelly Preston, Jordan Garrett, Stuart Lafferty, Aisha Tyler, John Goodman
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	August 31, 2007
Genre	Thriller
Running time	110 min.
Country	United State
Language	English
Budget
Gross revenue	$9,109,405

Death Sentence (2007) Trailer



Plot
The story revolves around Nick Hume, a loving husband and father of two sons, Brendan and Luke. After a hockey game, Nick and his oldest son Brendan are driving home and flash their headlights at two passing cars with their headlights off. They then make a quick stop at a gas station to get some fuel. While Brendan is getting a smoothie inside, the two cars they passed earlier, containing gang members about to rob the gas station, arrive. The station owner reaches for his gun, but is spotted by one of the gang members and shot to death. It is then revealed that a new gang member named Joe must prove himself to "become a man", so he slits Brendan's throat with a machete. Nick attempts to ambush the thugs, and manages to tackle Joe, who was making his escape out of the gas station. Nick pulls off Joe's mask and sees his face, but the murderer escapes and is hit, albeit not killed, by a car. Nick rushes Brendan to the hospital, but he later dies from major blood loss.

Nick later discovers that, if the case goes to court at all, Joe will only get a maximum of a few years in jail for his crime, so he forces the police to drop the case, deeming it a waste of time. Joe, now a free man, becomes the target of Nick's revenge and is eventually stabbed by the enraged father.

The gang, led by Joe's older brother Billy, wants revenge for the murder of one of their own. The gang attempts to, and almost succeeds in killing Nick, but he is able to escape while killing one in the process. The police, aware of what is happening, do not take Nick into custody, but grant him protection. The officers watching over the house of the Humes are killed, and the gang members make their way inside, where they shoot Nick, his wife Helen, and his other son Luke.

Nick survives, and learns that Luke did too. After paying a short visit to his son, who is in a coma, Nick escapes from the hospital to go after the remaining gang members. He pays a visit to a person named Bones, a gun shop owner and buys a .357 Magnum revolver, a Colt .45 pistol, and a double barrel shotgun. It is revealed that Bones is the father of Billy and Joe, but Bones allows Nick to carry on with his plans anyway. When Bones attempts to warn Billy of Nick's plans, he is shot and killed by his own son.

Later, when Billy arrives at the gang's meeting place, dubbed the Office, it turns out Nick is already there, and has killed some of the gang members. A fire fight breaks out, but ends when Nick and Billy both run out of bullets. They sit next to each other and Billy tells Nick to realize the murderer he has become. Nick then pulls another gun from his jacket and asks Billy if he's ready. Billy responds with a sigh. The next shot shows Nick walking out of the building, implying that he just killed Billy.

When Nick arrives at his house, he turns on the TV to watch the videos of his family. The police arrive and tell him that his son started moving, and that he'll probably make it through. Nick shows a sign of relief and looks back to the TV. It shows Luke, Helen, Nick and Brendan singing on the couch.