Unlike its nasty sibling revenge, justice is not a dish best served cold. It’s better served with nuance, decorum and a dash of smarts. Now try telling that to screenwriter Kurt Wimmer and director F. Gary Gray of Law Abiding Citizen, a retched revenge thriller that contradicts its condemnation of America’s legal system by employing gratuitous amounts of nonsensical violence.

Making immediate use of its MA15+ rating, the film begins with a brutal home invasion where Clyde Shelton’s (Gerard Butler) wife and daughter are murdered by the abhorrent Clarence Darby (Christian Stolte) and his reluctant accomplice Ruper Ames (Josh Stewart). In court, Clyde’s prosecuting attorney Nick Rice (Jamie Foxx) hastily cuts a deal that sees Darby get a measly five-year sentence, while Ames receives the death penalty. Clyde is outraged by the fragrant injustice of the decision; how can Darby be allowed to live when Ames, who took no part in the rape or murder, is sent to death row? And why does Nick seem to consider this a victory? Brewing in his hatred for Darby and the entire justice system over, Clive finally snaps ten years later, enacting his revenge (or justice?) in such a gruesome manner that it lands him in jail.

But the story only begins there for the jaded, not-to-be-messed with Clyde. From the confines of his jail cell, the brainy engineer somehow manages to orchestrate the systematic killing of all those directly and indirectly responsible for botching up his court case. Before his number comes up, Nick engages in a race against time to determine how Clyde’s managing to pull it off. Does he have an outside accomplice? Or is he like Jigsaw from the Saw series and sets up the death traps well in advance?

The answers to these questions, however, are no way near as pressing those the audience will be asking out of sheer frustration: how come bad guys are always unlucky enough to pick on an ultra-intelligent, ex-military super-soldier with an innate ability to perfectly predict character decisions well in advance? Why on earth do lawyers in movies also helm murder investigations? And why would two Oscar winning actors, Jamie Foxx and Viola Davis (who plays the town’s Mayor), willingly sign-up to such nonsense? It’s painful watching such talent go to waste.

The filmmakers seem unwilling to cooperate; Wimmer’s screenplay revels in absurdity while Gray’s direction makes the mistake of maintaining a straight face, causing every intelligent criticism of the lacklustre US justice system to be completely overshadowed by an onslaught of ridiculous narrative junctures. While the power play between Butler and Foxx initially engages as our allegiance fluctuates between them, the film quickly progresses to the point where the choice becomes clear: neither of them. Clyde is a sadistic nutcase who should never have been a father in the first place, while Nick is a narcissistic nitwit who is told by an informant exactly how Clyde thinks and operates, yet does nothing worthwhile with the information. This film is overflowing with moronic people habitually making moronic decisions.

It doesn’t help that neither Foxx nor Butler impress, the latter fairing slightly better with his suitably callous delivery of otherwise garish dialogue.  In fact, the only real talent showcased here is that of cinematographer Jonathan Sela, who makes the most of hard shadows and a muted palate to lend this pedestrian thriller a slick visual edge. Everything else, however, remains blunt.

In another time and place, Law Abiding Citizen could have been an intelligent critique of a flawed criminal justice system. But that’d also be a time and place where provocative and smart movies sold well at the box office. So instead, I present you Gerard Butler, ruthlessly hacking a guy into 25 little pieces.

Follow the author Anders Wotzke on Twitter.