I keep waiting for one of the Taken movies to be Liam answering the phone and saying "you know what? Just keep her"

As for people not knowing the original well enough for a remake, i'd argue that's a good reason to do a remake. If it's a movie everyone still watches, why bother? But if it's an old film that's fallen out of fashion, maybe polishing it up can bring the story to a new audience. Maybe some of them will even chase down the original, and like it (or not). I will agree that there's nothing super unique about Death Wish. Hell, everything Steven Segal did in the 90s had roughly the same plot.