Starring Gerard Butler, Jamie Foxx, Leslie Bibb
Engineer Clyde Shelton witnesses his wife and daughter brutally raped murdered by several men who broke into their home one evening. When he is told that one of the criminals will not be convicted, Shelton pleads with prosecutor Nick Rice to take the case to court and let him testify, as it saw it all. Rice, who is more concerned with keep his 96% conviction rate, tells Shelton that it doesn't matter what is right, what matters is what can be proven in court, and do to a botched forensics investigation, there is not enough solid evidence for the case. Clarence Darby, the criminal who actually raped and murdered Shelton's wife and daughter, gets off on a third-degree murder charge, which will only get him a 5-10 year jailtime, while accomplice Rupert Ames gets the death penalty. Shelton later sees Rice outside the courthouse shaking hands with Darby in what appears to be them finishing a deal.
10 years goes by and it's time for Ames' execution, however someone has tampered with the execution materials and his lethal injection becomes more horrifying than normal. Darby, believed to be response for the botched execution, runs from police with the help of a stranger on a cell phone who tricks him and kidnaps him, torturing and slowing killing him on film in the process.
Rice and police have reason to believe Shelton is behind both murders and take him into custody, however he knows how to play the legal system now and even though he's behind bars, everyone involved in the case regarding his wife and daughter's murders is being killed off. It's only a matter of time before Rice and his family are next.
What would appear to be a thriller about the corruption of our legal system and one man's attempt to avenge the murders of his wife and daughter, ends up feeling more like an installment of the Saw franchise, in the aspect that both films the villain has a reason for why they cause the death of others and carry out the deaths with clever devices of torture. Play by the rules and you'll live, but continue doing what you're doing and you'll surely reap what you sow.
While not as gruesome as the Saw franchise and the fact that this film would fall more under the category of thriller than horror, if you're not expecting all the gore that you get with this one, you will be in for quite a surprise!
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