Short on Plausibility, but good popcorn flick

Rating: 6/10 (26 December 2018)

Law Abiding Citizen
Law Abiding Citizen is the pinnacle of revenge movies. Tapping into and exploiting the fears of a perceived broken Criminal Justice system, Law Abiding Citizen follows a man who snapped and plots against criminals, judges, defense attorneys and anyone else who he perceives to be part of a system where prosecutors must make deals with violent felons who commit the most heinous of crimes, at the expense of victim justice.
The movie is a cat and mouse thriller between Philadelphia prosecutor, Nick Rice, played by Jaimie Foxx and Clyde Sheldon, played by Gerard Butler, as Foxx remains one step behind Butler as Butler goes about taking out his revenge on people in the criminal justice system.
Butler can be characterized as the judicial systems worst nightmare as his wife and child were cruelly killed, his actions can be rationalized by any victim who believes the system is corrupt and needs to be brought down.
Law Abiding Citizen is a fun and entertaining movie to watch, but Butler's skill set for carrying out his executions goes beyond plausible despite being posited as an engineering genius. The list of feats that Butler is able to pull off include hacking into computer system to botch an execution, rig a gun to sedate his victim, surveillance of people from a distance, buy real estate through foreign transactions, defend himself in court, explode a cell phone to kill a judge, dig tunnels and coordinate bombings and shootings by remote control. You may as well add leap tall buildings in a single bound. Clyde Sheldon is Paul Kersey (Death Wish) on steroids.
In the end, as much as the viewer can sympathize with Butler's pain, the lesson is that retribution and vengeance is best left for the lord, and that no one can take the law into their own hands, not even those who are severely victimized.
Movies such as these are cathartic, they help us release our anger and frustration and allow us to check our immediate urges and move on. With just the right composition of theatrical elements, Law Abiding Citizen gets a high grade in the good Popcorn flick category, but not much more.