Sloppy follow-up eight years after the original Death Wish transplants Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) to L.A., where a scuffle with ruffians leads the trigger-happy architect into another cycle of revenge and death. More exploitive than the first film, Death Wish 2 also embraces sheer ridiculousness. While still grotty fun in a far-fetched seedy B-movie way, it would have been nice to see the sequel wrestle more with real-world implications of vigilantism not only on society but on Kersey himself. However, Death Wish 2 begins the inexplicable transition of Kersey from a desperate everyman taking questionable power into his hands into a kind of crime-busting superhero with heretofore unrealized skills at stealth and melee combat. Director Michael Winner brings an odd sense of unearned grandeur to Death Wish 2, but fails in most other respects.