大牌云集。
男主之一，苦大仇深的Clyde是《斯巴达300勇士》的杰拉德-巴特勒。
男主之二的检察官Nick由杰米-福克斯扮演。演员本人是节奏布鲁斯歌手，在2004年曾以《雷》获奥斯卡奖，该片描述音乐家雷-查尔斯的一生。
这是一个复仇的故事。
Clyde的妻女为恶人奸杀。两恶人被抓，由于司法体系的漏洞，最恶的人只服三年刑，相对好一些的反被判决死刑。
Clyde用了十年时间准备复仇。十年后执行死刑时，他黑入监狱系统，更换了注射药物的顺序，使本应该是无痛的死刑处决变得痛苦异常。Clyde又将躲过惩罚的那个更恶的人大缷八块。
如果是复仇，到这里就应该结束。Clyde的目的显然不止于此，他还要推翻腐败的司法体系。
于是他用了司法界的若干人命，最后终于教会检察官Nick不再与杀人犯做交易：I don't make deals with murderers anymore. You taught me that. 有很多人对结尾不满意，认为Nick是最该死的那个人，而且认为市政厅的爆炸不应该失败。
我倒觉得Nick是Clyde留在这世上的一个火种，是改变司法腐败的坚定力量。他用血和尸体教导Nick，因为他说过，ln my experience, Nick, lessons not learned in blood are soon forgotten.
Clyde的过人之处，先由曾与他共事过的国防部人员Bray（《纸牌屋》的道格）娓娓道出。
Jonas Cantrell: Tell us what we're dealing with. Shelton was a spy?
Bray: Look, spies are a dime a dozen. I'm a spy. Clyde is a brain. He's a think tank-type guy. His specialty was low-impact kinetic operations.
Nick Rice: That's a hell of a fancy way to say that he kills people.
Bray: We kill people. He figured out how to do it without ever being in the same room. It was his gift, and he was the best. One time, we're tasking this tricky target. I mean, we're usin' cruise missiles and Predators, and we even had a B-2 Bomber flatten this guy's villa with JDAM. Alright, we're burnin' up millions in ordnance and we're gettin' nowhere with this guy. So we call Clyde, and we ask him to solve our problem. Clyde develops a Kevlar thread with a high-tech ratchet made of carbon fiber. Put it in a necktie. Two days later, Mrs. Bad Guy comes home, finds Mr. Bad Guy dead on the bathroom tile, choked to death. What I'm sayin' is, just assume that this guy can hear and see everything that you're doing.
Nick Rice: No. We got him locked away; maximum security.
Bray: He's in jail, it's because he wants to be in jail. He's a born tactician. Every move that he makes, it means something. That cellmate that he killed, what, you think that was random? No. That's a pawn being moved off the board. If I were you, I'd be lookin' for the next piece. Anybody who had anything to do with that case, he's gonna be comin' after you.
Nick Rice: So what are you sayin'? You sayin' we can't stop him?
Bray: Walk into his cell, and put a bullet in his head. Aside from that, no, you can't stop him. If Clyde wants you dead, you're dead.
在最开初，Nick通知Clyde他要与恶人达成交易时，对Clyde说， It's not what you know. It's what you can prove in court. 后来Clyde因谋杀入狱时，用这句话回敬了Nick。而这句经典台词，丹泽尔-华盛顿此前在《训练日》的法庭戏中也用过。喜欢电影之间的这种致敬。
杰拉德-巴特勒将Clyde最初伸冤无望的悲伤绝望和最后燃烧的熊熊复仇之火，演绎得格外真实动人。
法官Laura Burch在说完“作为一个法官，我基本上想做什么就做么”之后，被手机炸弹爆头——Well, that's one of the benefits of being a judge, Mr. Rice. I can... pretty much do whatever I want。而Jonas Cantrell被杀之前，说了Once you make a decision, live with it and move on, this job's best asset is a short memory and don't beat yourself up over it, there's already too many people doing it.这样不负责任的话。这两个人是司法无能的典型代表。死得其所。其他人有些冤，尤其是Nick的助手。
Jonas Cantrell给Nick讲的寓言故事，值得每个人铭记于心：
Nick Rice: Is this where you tell me some old fable or wise tale?
Jonas Cantrell: Alright I got one: Marcus Aurelius hired a servant to follow behind him as he made his way around the roman town square and this servant's only job was to constantly whisper in his ear "you're only a man" when people praised him.
在人们热烈地称赞你时，永远记住自己只是个普通人。
最后市政厅的爆炸如果成功，这就是一个肤浅的复仇电影。而没有成功，才是主流价值观。Clyde在火中如凤凰涅槃。
正片
