A great and original thriller, 'til the end.

Rating: 7/10 (16 February 2010)

My review does contain spoilers, however, the concluding paragraph at the bottom does not.
Law Abiding Citizen is very much a film that begins very promisingly. A shocking scene involving the rape and murder of a man's wife and young daughter means that it becomes very emotionally uncomfortable early on, but this creates a path to sympathise with Gerard Butler's character Clyde Shelton. The majority of the movie is set 10 years after the incident, beginning with the execution of one of the criminals responsible. The other, possibly more involved assailant was set free 7 years earlier after making a deal with D.A Nick Rice (Jamie Foxx). This leaves Shelton to mourn over the loss of his family and the fact that justice has not been fully served, leading him to exact bloody revenge on 'the one that got away', which he is then arrested for, after admitting it on tape.
As the film moves on, past the half hour mark, we realise that Mr Shelton is out for much more than revenge. He wants D.A Rice to pay for what he did, and so, for the last 10 years, he has been putting together a master plan to trick and murder each member of the justice department for their wrongdoing in the case. His reign of terror begins with comical demands, such as a new bed for his cell, and a steak dinner with all the trimmings, in exchange for information as to where an attack will be carried out, or where certain lawyers are being hidden.
This is when the cracks in the story first begin to show. Up to this point, this movie has been a fresh kick up the backside for most other action/thrillers that follow the normal Good VS Evil scenario. When Shelton's demands stop, and the killing doesn't, his reign-of-terror- for-a-reason turns into a bloody rampage with absolutely no point or reason for doing so. Throw in a silly excuse for how Shelton can put together all these contraptions, then begins the race to stop Shelton from killing everybody, lead by one District Attorney with an attitude. Jamie Foxx suddenly turns into super lawyer and runs amok, attempting to uncover Shelton's true plans.
As the film comes to a close, the original and thought provoking tale is lost, and the ending is revealed as that of a uniform action flick, meaning the big actors and high budget are the only thing separating this from a straight to DVD Steven Segal movie. By solving everything in the space of 10 minutes, the blurry lines between good and evil are put into focus a lot more, resulting in Jamie Foxx rising out of the flames as the I-WIN-HERO and Gerard Butler's lovable psychopath Clyde Shelton as the DEAD-AND-BURIED-SUPER-VILLAIN, again meaning the movie loses its original roots.
The outstanding acting is to be praised however, with Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx playing off of Kurt Wimmer's script brilliantly. Butler putting in possibly the performance of his career so far. Although, the directing, by the rather in-experienced F. Gary Gray is passable and nothing special.
To conclude, Law Abiding Citizen is a refreshing and fast paced roller-coaster ride for about an hour, until the cracks begin to show and it ends, leaving us, the audience, feeling rather ripped off. I urge anyone who enjoys a clever action thriller to definitely give this a watch, although it may take a strong stomach to sit through some of the more violent scenes. It is worth it however, just try to avoid building up a love of all things different about the movie, as they will just as easily be snatched away from you in the dying minutes.
7/10