Law Abiding Citizen 2009

Scott Tobias, AV Club: A flagrantly ridiculous thriller that tries to retrofit Saw to function as a mainstream, semi-respectable vigilante picture about the failings of our justice system. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: As a social statement, Law Abiding Citizen is a flawed attempt at holding the legal system accountable for its shortcomings. As a movie, it's a ridiculous execution of a misguided concept. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: Like a lot of action-movie directors, Gray lacks the imagination to view the art of cat-and-mouse as more than a chance to play with state-of-the-art war technology. Read more

Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Times: Say what you will about Death Wish, but Charles Bronson was never boring. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: What I mostly noticed is how quickly I've grown tired of Butler's mush-mouthed bravura, and also how much I hope that Foxx, who looks bored, holds his slumming down to this one film. Read more

Laremy Legel, Film.com: Sure, it's outta place for October, but there's no reason you can't enjoy a mindless piece of candy against the backdrop of fall foliage. Read more

Christy Lemire, Associated Press: All we're left with are ticking time bombs and a chunk of our own time that we'll never get back. Read more

Amy Nicholson, I.E. Weekly: There's the core of a fascinating amoral movie here before it gets amped up into a standard thriller Read more

John Anderson, Newsday: Not only is it a hapless crime drama about outrage and revenge, it provides the sad spectacle of a movie far less intelligent than the one its filmmakers thought they were making. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: Law Abiding Citizen is such a lazy action-drama underachiever, it seems unfair to target stars Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler for bringing their C game. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: At last, the missing link between Phantom of the Opera and Saw. Welcome to the gonzo revenge saga Law Abiding Citizen. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: It's a "Who dies next?" slasher film masquerading as a revenge thriller. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: That the film, directed in swift strokes by F. Gary Gray from a screenplay credited to Kurt Wimmer, doesn't really work -- unrelentingly grim, unintentionally funny -- is almost beside the point. It's a wild concept. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: The more Kurt Wimmer's screenplay reveals about the lead character's scheme, the more difficult it is to believe that Law Abiding Citizen is intended to be taken seriously. Read more

Richard Roeper, Richard Roeper.com: "Final Destination" meets "Saw" meets disaster. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: The explanation of Clyde's methods is preposterous, but it comes late enough that F. Gary Gray, the director, is first able to generate considerable suspense and a sense of dread. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: An exercise in illogic and Death Wish cribbing that lets a bunch of good actors collect big paychecks for playing way less than their A game. Read more

Amy Biancolli, San Francisco Chronicle: Vigilante movies hold a firm place in cinematic history, but for them to work, the vigilante needs to be a sympathetic anti-hero. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: The movie is not -- putting it courteously -- tightly constructed. The narrative shifts are jerky and the tone bounces around like a Jeep on a dirt road. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: The big problem with the movie isn't the violence, or the message about coddling criminals, or the two lead actors, although they've never been worse. It's the utter implausibility. Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: This strikes me as narrative cheating, but you may play the critical game by more relaxed rules. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: You want to see what happens, even as logic tumbles, and there are fascinating undercurrents in the bargain. Read more

Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine: Butler has the showier part, but his impersonation of the tragic hero is undercut by his weird resemblance to Soupy Sales. Read more

Nigel Floyd, Time Out: Sadly, there's nothing here but bloody off-cuts from 'Death Wish', 'Saw' and 'The Silence of the Lambs', in roughly that order. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: The exploration of right and wrong, and its complicated lack of clarity, gets trammeled amid the bevy of explosions, volley of bullets and mounting body count. Read more

Justin Chang, Variety: It winds up feeling overwritten yet underexplained, foregoing plausible revelations in favor of gusty debate about the ethical challenges of practicing and upholding the law. Read more

Robert Wilonsky, Village Voice: Saw with a conscience is not what the world needs. Read more

Dan Kois, Washington Post: A preposterous exercise in high-minded brutality, "Law Abiding Citizen" tries to pass itself off as a dialectic on justice betrayed, but instead plays like a snuff film with our nation's legal system as the victim. Read more