The Litmus Test for Viewer Idiocy

Rating: 5/10 (2 October 2014)

I didn't love this film by any means. It focused too much on the violence, not enough on the characters, and its plot is impossible. But I will have to give it this - its themes and execution have revealed a lot about the movie-going audience. Indeed, they're dumb, emotional, and shallow.
People love to romanticize vigilante justice. Its brave, rebellious, and edgy! Of course people would cheer for a man giving eeevvviiilll villains their just desserts. "Who cares if he's breaking the law? He's the good guy! Our justice system screwed him over!" What empty platitudes. While no justice system is perfect, it is far better than vigilante justice. Its easy to defend it as some glorious act when its against a murdering rapist. People forget when it hits the innocent, or those who stood a chance at reform. Believe it or not, people actually have different opinions. And we can't allow all of them in our legal system.
Yet time after time, I've seen people hate this film because it doesn't let them indulge in their vigilante power fantasy. They want the film to pander to their wants, ignoring the horrible deeds vigilantes can commit. And such a movie would be boring. For all its faults, at least Law Abiding Citizen tries to show how desire for revenge can encompass one's life, that "good" and "evil" are sometimes intertwined. It mostly failed, but it at least tried. But that's not what the audience wants, I guess. Just impossible intelligence, impossible success, and impossible luck, no message of real subsistence attached. As pure as justice porn gets.
I think I should start showing this movie to new people I meet, just to judge their character. This may be my most visceral disagreement in film. In a world filled with generic action films, I can't believe people not only want another unchallenging popcorn flick, but demand a film cater to their personal fantasies. Its depressing.