History YMMV / LawAbidingCitizen

* HilariousInHindsight: At one point, Bray says "spies are a dime a dozen", which was included in the trailer. This unintentionally mirrored a line from ''SupplementalMaterial/TeamFortress2'''s trailer "Meet The Spy", which has the Scout saying "[Spies are] dime-a-dozen back-stabbing scumbags!" The payoff? Well, see ''Law Abiding Engineer''.

** Clyde, he kills a lot of people, but he had his wife and daughter raped and murdered right in front of him and the main perpetrator got off with a slap on the wrist because Nick the persecutor cared more about getting a perfect conviction score.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: While Nick wasn't supposed to be sympathetic when he cut a deal with Darby and got him off with a slap on the wrist, Nick is still supposed to be seen as sympathetic later after Clyde [[spoiler:InUniverse crosses the MoralEventHorizon and kills Sarah with a car bomb.]] However, many felt that Nick cutting a deal with [[CompleteMonster Darby]] was his own MoralEventHorizon and [[RootingForTheEmpire were still cheering for Clyde]] even after all he's done. Not helping is the fact that Nick keeps making excuses for what was ultimately a selfish decision. [[spoiler:Even at the end when Nick states that he's done making deals with criminals, this mostly [[AssPull came out of left field,]] as he never actually thinks on his choices or admits that he was wrong.]]

* CompleteMonster: Clarence Darby stands in stark contrast to the [[AntiVillain relatively sympathetic]] Clyde Shelton. Darby instigates Clyde's RoaringRampageOfRevenge when he and his accomplice, Rupert Ames, rob his home. Darby [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil rapes]] and kills Clyde's wife before [[WouldHurtAChild murdering their daughter]], all while Ames [[EvenEvilHasStandards yells at him to stop]]. In court, Darby lies and says Ames did it, resulting in Ames being sentenced to death while Darby get a slap on the wrist. When Clyde sabotages Ames's execution so he dies a slow and painful death and frames Darby for it, Darby chuckles when he hears about Ames's painful death on the news, and shoots at the police when they try to arrest him. He's about to murder an officer for no reason before it turns out to be Clyde in disguise, who tortures and kills Darby.

* DracoInLeatherPants: There are quite a few people who present Clyde as a hero fighting a corrupt system, ignoring that many of the people who die at Clyde's hands were simply employees doing their jobs and not actively trying to wrong him. That and he killed his cellmate simply to advance his plot, cared very little for collateral damage (shooting a funeral and trying to city hall) on top of sending a snuff film to Nick's daughter. Clyde might be sympathetic, but the crimes he committed are still wrong.

* DracoInLeatherPants: There are quite a few people who present Clyde as a hero fighting a corrupt system, ignoring that many of the people who die at Clyde's hands were simply employees doing their jobs and not actively trying to wrong him. That and he killed his cellmate simply to advance his plot. Clyde might be sympathetic, but the crimes he committed are still wrong.

** Darby's lawyer is even more of a DesignatedVillain than Ames (who's actually a criminal), yet the movie tries to paint him as an AmoralAttorney who deserves to be BuriedAlive. Also, Nick lampshades that the lawyer had a wife.

* EndingAversion: Many viewers believe the film should not have ended with [[spoiler:Clyde getting blown up with his own bomb]] or with [[spoiler:Nick facing zero consequences for his actions throughout the movie]].

** Ames. Sure, he's a robber, but he still tries to save Shelton's family because EvenEvilHasStandards. And yet he gets DisproportionateRetribution from both the system '''''and''''' Shelton (UngratefulBastard much?), and the movie tries to paint him as equally an AssholeVictim as [[TheSociopath Darby]].
** Darby's lawyer is even more of a DesignatedVillain than Ames (who's actually a criminal), yet the movie tries to paint him as an AmoralAttorney who deserves to be BuriedAlive.
** Ames shows clear remorse for his crimes at his execution. Also, Nick lampshades that the lawyer had a wife. Clyde [[spoiler:killed them]] because they were involved in Darby escaping justice.

* CompleteMonster: Clarence Darby stands in stark contrast to the [[AntiVillain relatively sympathetic]] Clyde Shelton. Darby instigates Clyde's RoaringRampageOfRevenge when he and his accomplice, Rupert Ames, rob his home. Darby [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil rapes]] and kills Clyde's wife before [[WouldHurtAChild murdering their daughter]], all while Ames [[EvenEvilHasStandards yells at him to stop]]. In court, Darby lies and says Ames did it, resulting in Ames being sentenced to death while Darby get a slap on the wrist. When Clyde sabotages Ames's execution so he dies a slow and painful death and frames Darby for it, Darby chuckles when he hears about Ames's painful death on the news, and shoots at the police when they try to arrest him. He's about to murder an officer for no reason before it turns out to be Clyde in disguise, who tortures and kills Darby.

* RootingForTheEmpire: {{Deconstructed}}. At the beginning one is hard-felt to not be rooting for Shelton's RoaringRampageOfRevenge against the people that wronged him and the system that deliberately let his killer go just to keep up appearances. But it slowly changes when it becomes clear how vast Shelton believes the people involved are and is ready to kill a lot of innocent people just to get his revenge.
** Also Played Straight as many viewers still root for Clyde as his background ''is'' very tragic while the heroes are incredibly unsympathetic. Especially how Nick let the man who killed Clyde's family get away too easily and does't even seem to care about the fact that Clyde lost his family.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: While Nick wasn't supposed to be sympathetic when he cut a deal with Darby and got him off with a slap on the wrist, Nick is still supposed to be seen as sympathetic later after Clyde [[spoiler:InUniverse crosses the MoralEventHorizon and kills Sarah with a car bomb.]] However, many felt that Nick cutting a deal with [[CompleteMonster Darby]] was his own MoralEventHorizon and [[RootingForTheEmpire were still cheering for Clyde]] even after all he's done. Not helping is the fact that Nick keeps making excuses for what was ultimately a selfish decision. [[spoiler:Even at the end when Nick admits he's done making deals with criminals, this mostly [[AssPull came out of left field,]] as he never actually thinks on his choices or admits that he was wrong.]]

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: While Nick wasn't supposed to be sympathetic when he cut a deal with Darby and got him off with a slap on the wrist, Nick is still supposed to be seen as sympathetic later after Clyde [[spoiler:InUniverse crosses the MoralEventHorizon and kills Sarah with a car bomb.]] However, many felt that Nick cutting a deal with Darby was his own MoralEventHorizon and [[RootingForTheEmpire were still cheering for Clyde]] even after all he's done. Not helping is the fact that Nick keeps making excuses for what was ultimately a selfish decision. [[spoiler:Even at the end when Nick admits he's done making deals with criminals, this mostly [[AssPull came out of left field,]] as he never actually thinks on his choices or admits that he was wrong.]]

* MagnificentBastard: [[CrusadingWidower Clyde Shelton]], after losing his family to the depraved Clarence Darby, schemes for years, studying law and the city to murder Darby himself, and gets arrested, conniving to pull off a series of attacks against all he holds responsible for Darby's freedom. Seeing the judicial system as inherently corrupt, Shelton holds the city in a grip of terror, making his own demands that most are powerless against, to make his statements against what he views as a corrupt system. The good guys assume Shelton saying he has all kinds of connections to hitmen who successfully kill most of his targets on his behalf is true, but in reality, he's escaping his cell and doing it all himself. Even at the end, when he realizes his life is about to end, Shelton maintains sympathy by [[FaceDeathWithDignity dying in a dignified manner]], only staring at a bracelet his beloved daughter made him before the end.

** Clyde, he kills a lot of people, but he had his wife and daughter murdered and the main perpetrator got off with a slap on the wrist.

* CatharsisFactor: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]], normally, watching someone like [[CompleteMonster Clarence Darby]] get subjected to a such a brutal death would warrant this reaction from the audience. Yet, his death is so [[{{Squick}} squicky]] and downright [[NightmareFuel disturbing]] that it becomes hard to enjoy. Nevertheless, it is still impossible [[AssholeVictim to feel sorry for him.]]

* FanDislikedExplanation: Turns out Clyde [[spoiler:doesn’t have an accomplice helping him commit these crimes. He built tunnels beneath solitary confinement. As detailed under TheyWastedAPerectlyGoodPlot below, this decision makes little to no sense, and having an accomplice makes much more sense.]]

* UnfortunateImplications: The line "Fuck his civil rights" can ''really'' rub people the wrong way and give them the wrong impression, as it more or less implies the law is pretty corrupt and will throw ordinary people to the wolves if need be, as [[http://www.flickfilosopher.com/2009/10/law-abiding-citizen-review.html one review]] points out:
--> "''But if Law Abiding Citizen wants to be a story about an ordinary man — Shelton — who takes back a power he believes has been given up to those in charge — Rice — a power those in charge have abused, why is it ultimately espousing a route that would do nothing but give those in authority even more power over ordinary people? If Shelton’s civil rights are fucked, then so are yours and mine.''"
** Which ''is'' the point that Shelton was trying to make all along: without violating the law and Clyde's rights in the name of bringing him to justice at any cost, Nick and co. would ''never'' get him. To succeed, they had to become much like Shelton himself during his work for the government. Which, in turn, leads to a ''very'' uncomfortable question of where is the fine line between doing horrible things in the name of justice, and outright abuse of power for whatever goal.

* DesignatedHero: Nick. He lets the wrong person off the hook with a plea bargain, inadvertently making a murderer of the man whose family was killed by said person, [[KarmaHoudini and suffers no blowback by movie's end]].

* CatharsisFactor: A subversion, normally, watching someone like [[CompleteMonster Clarence Darby]] get subjected to a such a brutal death would warrant this reaction from the audience. Yet, his death is so [[{{Squick}} squicky]] and downright [[NightmareFuel disturbing]] that it becomes hard to enjoy. Nevertheless, it is still impossible [[AssholeVictim to feel sorry for him.]]

* CriticalDissonance: A pretty significant one. [[https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/law_abiding_citizen/ Rotten Tomatoes]] lists that 26% of critics liked it (with an average rating of 4.3/10), while 75% of audience liked it. Many critics found the violence in the movie excessive and tasteless, and the story nonsensical.

* WhatAnIdiot: When Darby and Ames were on trial, the evidence against Darby was rendered inadmissible due to [[HollywoodLaw unexplained reasons]], therefore Nick has to cut a deal to get a conviction.
-->'''You'd Expect:''' He'd cut a deal with Ames against Darby. Ames is clearly the lesser of two evils, and was outright [[EvenEvilHasStandards disgusted by Darby's actions]]. He'd be more than happy to testify against Darby, and Shelton might still be satisfied as long as Darby goes to death row.
-->'''Instead:''' He cuts a deal with [[CompleteMonster Darby]] of all people, so that Ames would go to [[DisproportionateRetribution death row instead.]]
-->'''The Result:''' [[IdiotPlot The plot of the movie]].

-->'''You'd Expect:''' He'd cut a deal with Ames against Darby, Ames is clearly the lesser of two evils, and was outright [[EvenEvilHasStandards disgusted by Darby's actions]]. He'd be more than happy to testify against Darby, and Shelton might still be satisfied as long as Darby goes to death row.