Get Your Reps In: “Death Wish 3″ Pokes Fun at Old Men’s Law-and-Order Fantasies

Death Wish 3 (1985)

It’s a running joke among Death Wish appreciators and detractors alike as to when Paul Kersey—the mustachioed vengeance machine played by Charles Bronson—lost his mind. A fine argument could be made that this vigilante fantasy was cracked from the beginning. But by Death Wish 3, Paul and the franchise had plummeted so far into the reactionary fever dream of “only this 65-year-old man can stop New York’s sadistic multicultural leather gangs” that its unintentional hilarity and ham-handed directing could never be replicated.

The third film—screening Nov. 6 at the Hollywood Theatre as part of the Wyrd War Presents! series—sees Kersey move into an apartment building besieged by cartoonish criminals with nicknames like “The Giggler.” Would you believe the cops won’t do anything, but gray, mumbling Charles Bronson and a series of increasingly large weapons will?

Real fascism becomes less funny by the day, but the loony tune version doled by a daffy one-man army—who naturally converts the whole neighborhood to his cause—remains a rich source of yucks. Paul’s just ambling down to the corner store for an ice cream bar; don’t mind the rocket launcher. Hollywood, Nov. 6.

Also Playing:

5th Avenue: Black Mother (2018), Nov. 7–9. Academy: The Seventh Seal (1957), The Legend of Billie Jean (1985), and Clueless (1995), Nov. 5 and 6. Purple Rain (1984), Chinatown (1974) and Moonrise Kingdom (2012), Nov. 7–13. Cinema 21: The Terminator (1984), Nov. 7 and 8. The Thin Man (1934), Nov. 8. Cinemagic: Kung Pow!: Enter the Fist (2002), Nov. 5 and 7. 21 Red List (1994) Nov. 6. The Deer Hunter (1978), Nov. 5 and 9. Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002), Nov. 8 and 10. Oldboy (2003), Nov. 8, 9 and 11. Lady Vengeance (2005), Nov. 8 and 12. Clinton: The Mannequin in Red (1958), Nov. 5. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), Nov. 8. Cult Classics: Uncle Buck (1989), Nov. 9. Hollywood: The Seventh Curse (1986), Nov. 5. Mallrats (1995), Nov. 7. Brazil (1985) and The Burning Moon (1992), Nov. 8. Wolfwalkers (2020), Nov. 8 and 9. Gurren Lagann the Movie: Childhood’s End (2008) and The Lights in the Sky Are Stars (2009) double feature, Nov. 9. A Better Tomorrow (1986), Nov. 10. Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow (1978), Nov. 11. Tomorrow: Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975), Nov. 8. Omar and Cedric: If This Ever Gets Weird (2024), Nov. 8. Uncle Buck (1989) and Spaceballs (1987), Nov. 9.