Metascore

Generally unfavorable reviews - based on 24 Critics What's this?

User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 42 Ratings

  • Starring: John Goodman, Kelly Preston, Kevin Bacon
  • Summary: Nick Hume is a mild-mannered executive with a perfect life, until one gruesome night he witnesses something that changes him forever. Transformed by grief, Hume eventually comes to the disturbing conclusion that no length is too great when protecting his family. (20th Century Fox)
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 24
  2. Negative: 11 out of 24
  1. Reviewed by: Justin Chang
    70
    Well-made, often intensely gripping genre piece.
  2. Reviewed by: Michael Ferraro
    60
    The action sequences are still pretty imaginative, if not nonsensical.
  3. Reviewed by: Glenn Kenny
    38
    Wan wants to have something both ways, and in the end, he gets almost nothing. As Clint Eastwood said in yet another genre picture: A man’s gotta know his limitations.
  4. 33
    The movie has nothing to offer except titillation.

See all 24 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 26
  2. Negative: 7 out of 26
  1. ChaseC.
    10
    This is one of my favorite movies, I guess I just have bad taste, because almost all of my favorite movies are rated at the worst with metacritic. This movie is one of the most badass movies i have ever seen, Another nice thing about this movie is there isn't the bad techno music while they are having a fire fight. This movie is a must watch. Expand
  2. MarkS.
    8
    Was quite surprised. Enjoyed it a lot more than i thought i would! The violence is excellent!
  3. 7
    What can I say? Perhaps I am biased, but I will be totally sincere. This is NOT a great movie, but I enjoyed it so much, that I myself got surprised! My friends did too, and they are people that nobody on Earthh could call 'dumb' but the opposite. Partly, the reasons for my excitement about this film, may be because Kevin Bacon is the leading figure and I adore Kevin Bacon, for he is one of the most accomplished, versatile, serious, and down-to-Earth actors of Hollywood-and he is as underrated as Gary Oldman or Sean Penn (yet even a better actor -and according to the media and general belief he is also a nicer person-than them), so whenever I watch a movie where he is performing, my attitude becomes more open, for just his acting gives a movie a higher value. That said, (and I am acknowledging I may be biased), this movie is not brilliand but good in its genre. Those who love action filsm we'll see here a bit of the anti-hero. You may find this movie a bit unrealistic, and you are probably right. I don't think, however, that when they made Death Sentence the producers wanted to create a classic, but instead a good action- fiction film! I think they succeeded, for Death Sentence is always intense, and engaging! I know that some of us think that a situation like this is very unlikely to happen. A person doesn't turn into "Rambo' or a "killing machine' just because they want justice for their family and the legal system does not provide them with that. Nonetheless, I wonder if something like that would happen to my boy...what would I do, or at least attempt to do? I am a girl- and a feminine one- but in my own way, perhaps pain and sorrow would force me to take a difficult, emotional, and yet ilogical decision! I don't know!. Perhaps the movie is not that unrealistic, after all. So, my advice is: forget about prejudices and go and be ready to watch a movie that although a bit strange, it never bores! A solid 7 for sure! PS: and if you already love Kevin Bacon, he will not disappoint you, for this movie wouldn't be the same if someone else played his part. Expand
  4. KevinA
    3
    I'm glad I didn't have to pay to see this. The family scenes were so predictable that I fast forwarded through most of them. I do have to say that the action scenes were fun to watch. They were actually quite intense even though they made me laugh. I kept wondering why the cops never really interrogated Bacon or arrested him. They had probable cause. I guess it's because he was killing scumbags that the cops couldn't seem to catch, or even seem to want to catch, even after they killed some cops. So, ultimately I would have given it a 1 if it weren't for some of the action scenes. Expand

See all 26 User Reviews

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