The very deadly idea of vigilante justice, of which the likes of Batman will not subscribe. But there's something about its sheer ridiculousness and main-lined sentiments of pure Justice (with a capital J) that take the film beyond what any of those films did (and, quite frankly, beyond what any of those films wanted to do). Sure, the film devolves into a city-wide Rube Goldberg contraption of vigilantism and most of its best moments are lifted from the likes of Seven, The Dark Knight, Saw, and Escape from Alcatraz. But, for me, Clyde's character is an interesting one to watch on screen, played surprisingly well by Butler.
LAW ABIDING CITIZEN ORIGINAL ENDING MOVIE
And if that's the case then this movie will indeed be horrifyingly grim and cynical. Perhaps after that you can better understand just why it was easy for me to follow, understand, and intellectualize Clyde's reactions - wanting to cause as much pain and suffering to the man that caused him so much, feeling like the justice system failed him, and wanting to change it for the absolute, if not the better. Clyde, an apparent inventor and genius, begins his plan of revenge to exact justice on his family's murderers, the members of the court involved in the plea bargain, and the justice system at large while attempting to teach Nick Rice exactly what justice really means.
In a deal struck by an up-and-coming attorney, Nick Rice (played by Jamie Foxx), in order to preserve his stellar conviction percentage, the worst of the murderers is sentenced to a minimal stay in prison in exchange for the other murderer's whereabouts and eventual death penalty sentence. In short, Clyde Shelton is the victim of a brutal home invasion that leads to the murders of his wife and young daughter. I should mention, albeit briefly, just what Law Abiding Citizen is about. Due to this alone, I quite liked what Law Abiding Citizen had to say, no matter how schlocky and bombastic it said it. But as fucked up as it may sound, whatever vigilante-esque psychosis that I've bubbling way below my surface, I am able to enter that head-space.
LAW ABIDING CITIZEN ORIGINAL ENDING FULL
If you're unable to enter the head-space of a man whose sense of justice is laying a man prostrate on a plank of wood, binding his head, arms, torso, and legs to said table, pumping him so full of adrenaline that he's incapable of passing out, cutting off his eyelids so he's incapable of clenching them shut, and making him watch in a full-length mirror hanging above the table as his limbs, digits, and other unmentionable extremities are slowly dissembled by a circular saw then, well, this movie isn't for you. You're either going to agree with-or at least identify with-the moral relativism presented in the film by Clyde Shelton (the character played by Gerard Butler) or you won't. Which brings me to the first impasse you may have to break through with this review. It's a thriller, sure, with a bit of social commentary sprinkled here and there in big globs that never blend, and some twists and turns and reversals, but it's really a depiction of those dark, strangely satisfying thoughts one might have after hearing on the news that a murderer or rapist was released from prison early for good behavior or on a legal technicality. As stated above, it's predominantly a wish fulfillment fantasy.
'Cause it's a vibrant, satisfying expedition into a wish-fulfillment, vigilante fantasy.īefore I get into what Law Abiding Citizen isn't, let's discuss what it is. Now, I've no idea if the title's intention is as deep as I've dug, but what I do know is that the film certainly isn't. And it's in this simple, innocuous distinction that the seed of my fondness for F. As Goss explained to me, it's not the citizen who is abiding the law, instead, it's the law that's abiding the citizen. But when William Goss pointed out that, perhaps, the title's lack of a hyphen is intentional, my brain unfurled and drank in this radically tasty nectar. The words "law" and "abiding" are not supposed to be separate, but rather combined as a hyphenated adjective modifying the noun "citizen" like so: Law-Abiding Citizen. The grammar stickler in me has an immediate problem with Law Abiding Citizen.
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