Lustig for Justice, Sorta

I like a good action film as much as the next guy. I get the interplay between good guy and bad guy, and how, by the end of the film, you can’t really tell the difference between the two as they seek to destroy the other.

As far as exploitation action films go, the sub-genre of vigilante films is a popular theme. Average Joe has his world upended when he and/or his family are threatened or attacked by thugs, Mob enforcers, or whatever the bad guy has at his disposal. Average Joe decides to share his pain with those who caused it, and things tend to escalate. We’ve seen it before, and we will see it again and again.

With William Lustig’s “Vigilante” we get the same story again in a bleak urban setting. Robert Forester is our Every-man. His wife steps up to defend an old man being assaulted by a group of street thugs, and so the gang decides to pay her a little visit. The wife is beaten, stabbed, and attacked while the young son’s brains are blown out of the bathroom window.

While this is happening, Forester is out working his job. Actually, he is literally out to lunch. Yet the wife holds him responsible. Okay. Easy way to get her out of the picture to uncomplicated things.

In the meantime, Forester’s buddy, played by Fred Williamson, is constantly commenting on how people have to take justice into their own hands. Guess what? That’s what Forester ultimately does. After he kills the last person that he holds responsible for the tragedy his life has become, the film ends. End of story.

What are we supposed to take away from this? You get a by-the-numbers revenge flick. No real social commentary and no real sense of closure for the main character. A nice guy gets angry and kills a couple of people because life isn’t fair. Yeah, that is the good stuff. Pointless, soul-emptying exploitation with no thought behind it other than hitting the required marks.

The most disappointing part of all of this is you get two fairly passionate performances from Forester and Williamson, but they serve no real purpose when the script gives the characters and the audience nothing beyond cardboard contrivances. It doesn’t even hold up as much of a pot boiler, in spite of Lustig’s solid direction.

Worth looking at if you want to fill in the blanks on William Lustig’s career. Otherwise, you should be able to find something more beneficial to watch.