While not as good as the serious thrillers that the first two were, “Death Wish 4: The Crackdown” is definitely a comeback for the series after the brainless third outing. It is the first in the series not to be directed by Michael Winner but rather J. Lee Thompson (“Guns of Navarone”) and while it is still flawed, “Death Wish 4” is a relatively smart and entertaining action film.

In this film, Paul Kersey (“Death Wish”, “Dirty Dozen”) is no longer a professional vigilante like in the last film but back to his architect/vigilante as his new girlfriend’s daughter is killed by a drug overdose. Now Kersey is out to take on two big drug dealing groups and pit them against each other like in “A Fistful Of Dollars” but here, it isn’t for profit but rather so he protects the children and teens of L.A. from drugs.

Paul Kersey is a great film character as I love his realistic feel in the first two films, I was disappointed by his invincibility in the third film and then I was pleased to see his resourcefulness in this one (explosive wine bottles anybody?). The villains are pretty average but the main thing is that they’re bad and Bronson gives them what they deserve.

Although at times it seems a little clichéd and a little too much like anti-drug propaganda, it is an entertaining film… and isn’t that the important thing. I think I may have been a little generous with my rating with the third film; I still didn’t like it but still I didn’t criticise as much as it deserved but that’s because I’ve enjoyed the series and I saw good things in it, here I didn’t feel I had to force myself to find positives, it didn’t ooze with good things but it wasn’t like trying to get blood from a stone.