There is a special kind of danger that comes with making a charismatic villain; especially one thats empathizable in his cause. Law Abiding citizen (LAC)falls prey to this by making its genius killer generally more likable then the various people he blows up, shoots and otherwise removes from this mortal coil.
Now, without revealing the plot TOO much, I'll try to give a nice little summary. So this guy named Clyde, played by King Leonidas, is living his picturesque hallmark card life when two nutters come in, stab him, stab his wife, stab his daughter, stab his wife again (this time with their sexual organs) and leave them all for dead. This is the first 5 minutes here so no, I'm not ruining anything. Well Clyde survives due to the massive power of his abs and anger but then gets royally screwed by the justice system which pretty much lets the killers (or at least the most unreasonably evil one) go. The man responsible for this is a lawyer by the name of Nick played by Jamie Foxx, who Clyde is reasonably miffed at. The story revolves mainly around these two as Clyde tries to teach the system a lesson or destroy it in the process.
Now, as I said earlier, the problem is that we genuinely end up rooting for clyde more then anyone else. We certainly can't root for the corrupt judges and lawyers that get killed, nor for Nick, who comes off more as a jerk going for a high conviction rate then anything else. Occasionally there are innocents we feel bad for, but Clyde always wins out for the audiences affections. Its not the acting thats the problem here, as all parts were done well, its the writing. The judge in question basically just says "well let me violate laws and rights because I can" and the defense lawyers are all slimy bastards (just like in real life). The only characters that seem descent are usually ignored or pushed to the back. In fact, when one character finally grows some morals they then immediately exit in a plume of fire and car parts. Nick does become a little more likable as the film progresses, but he still doesn't compare to clyde.
Now, this wouldn't be so bad, if not for the fact that (SPOILERS SPOILERS) Nick wins in the end. It leaves you feeling defeated; it's not a sad ending its just empty. In fact the entire ending sequence is rather flawed. It attempts to explain how Clyde is doing these things, but it's explanations don't really seem real. Its sort of like the explanations at the end of an episode of scooby doo, where they explain that the villain was "flying" by wearing clear plastic skis. Clyde's defeat along with the lack luster explanation of the mystery behind his actions makes the ending disappointing more then anything else. But its not to say that the ride itself wasn't fun; clyde's character is interesting enough to keep your attention and there are some neat tricks, but over all, if you want a good "Evil genius" movie try Se7en.
3 out of 5
One sentence review for those who are lazy:
Clyde is cool, the system sucks and the good guys always win even if you don't want them too.
Fun Fact
Butler has a completely superfluous nude scene near the beginning. Hope you like seeing Leonidas's ass for a few seconds ladies.
Now, without revealing the plot TOO much, I'll try to give a nice little summary. So this guy named Clyde, played by King Leonidas, is living his picturesque hallmark card life when two nutters come in, stab him, stab his wife, stab his daughter, stab his wife again (this time with their sexual organs) and leave them all for dead. This is the first 5 minutes here so no, I'm not ruining anything. Well Clyde survives due to the massive power of his abs and anger but then gets royally screwed by the justice system which pretty much lets the killers (or at least the most unreasonably evil one) go. The man responsible for this is a lawyer by the name of Nick played by Jamie Foxx, who Clyde is reasonably miffed at. The story revolves mainly around these two as Clyde tries to teach the system a lesson or destroy it in the process.
Now, as I said earlier, the problem is that we genuinely end up rooting for clyde more then anyone else. We certainly can't root for the corrupt judges and lawyers that get killed, nor for Nick, who comes off more as a jerk going for a high conviction rate then anything else. Occasionally there are innocents we feel bad for, but Clyde always wins out for the audiences affections. Its not the acting thats the problem here, as all parts were done well, its the writing. The judge in question basically just says "well let me violate laws and rights because I can" and the defense lawyers are all slimy bastards (just like in real life). The only characters that seem descent are usually ignored or pushed to the back. In fact, when one character finally grows some morals they then immediately exit in a plume of fire and car parts. Nick does become a little more likable as the film progresses, but he still doesn't compare to clyde.
Now, this wouldn't be so bad, if not for the fact that (SPOILERS SPOILERS) Nick wins in the end. It leaves you feeling defeated; it's not a sad ending its just empty. In fact the entire ending sequence is rather flawed. It attempts to explain how Clyde is doing these things, but it's explanations don't really seem real. Its sort of like the explanations at the end of an episode of scooby doo, where they explain that the villain was "flying" by wearing clear plastic skis. Clyde's defeat along with the lack luster explanation of the mystery behind his actions makes the ending disappointing more then anything else. But its not to say that the ride itself wasn't fun; clyde's character is interesting enough to keep your attention and there are some neat tricks, but over all, if you want a good "Evil genius" movie try Se7en.
3 out of 5
One sentence review for those who are lazy:
Clyde is cool, the system sucks and the good guys always win even if you don't want them too.
Fun Fact
Butler has a completely superfluous nude scene near the beginning. Hope you like seeing Leonidas's ass for a few seconds ladies.
