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Because
the prisons are so full, and life is so bleak, the corporations that
run the gaols decide to set up gladiatorial events which they beam to
TVs around the world, pay-per-view style.
But soon viewers get bored of
the fatal gladiator fights and, not wanting to lose its paying
audience, the Death Race is invented.
The Death Race turns out
to be one of the most-watched television broadcasts in history,
securing its future. It involves a number of cars outfitted with steel
armour, high performance engines, and a number of offensive and
defensive mechanisms.
The aim of the Death Race is firstly to
not become road kill, and secondly to cross the finish line first. If a
prisoner wins five Death Races, he is set free.
Director Paul
W.S. Anderson starts the movie at a cracking pace, dumping the audience
right into the action with the first scene of the film showing the
final stages of a Death Race, which works to get the adrenaline pumping.
After
having a brief taste of the futuristic penal motor race, we are
introduced to the film's protagonist Jensen Ames (Jason Statham), who
is working his last day at a steel mill.
What ensues is
pleasantly unpredictable: Ames is framed in a crime he did not commit,
for which he is sent to Terminal Island, the most notorious prison in
the land - and the home of the Death Race.
Long story short and
the plot has potential but turns out to be a tepid affair, held
together only by some ultra-violent (and creative) fatalities, high
impact post-apocalyptic car racing sequences and Jason Statham's
ability to make the most of two-bit script. Tyrese
Gibson is so-so as Ames's race-track rival Machine Gun Joe, and Joan
Allen does her part as the sadistic-but-sexy prison warden Hennessey. While
there is a lot to like about the way this movie looks - very little CGI
is used and almost all of the action is real, which gives the movie an
original and gritty tone - the plot will infuriate seasoned movie goers.
Still, this remake of the 1975 film Death Race 2000 (which itself was based on the Ib Melchior's book The Racer) isn't all bad and if nothing else the movie has
an impressive visual style
David
Carradine (who starred in the original 1975 film and Kill Bill) makes a cameo
appearance as the enigmatic 'Frankenstein' race driver, who has had so
many crashes his face is disfigured forcing him to wear a mask.
The cars themselves are
possibly the real stars of the movie: highly modified Ford
Mustangs, Porsche 911s, and Chrysler 300Cs retrofitted with the kind of
heavy metal modifications that only movie money can buy.
There's
power-sliding, wheel-spinning, machine-gun shooting, napalm-launching,
head-exploding, caltrop-deploying mayhem on screen, not to mention
exploding cars flipping through the air in glorious slow motion.
And wait until you see the hulking Dreadnaught vehicle! It's super cool.
Yeah,
it's true that the races are supremely eventful and are the highlight
of the movie - and there's quite a bit of blood-letting too - but after
a while the races began to lose their lustre, partially ruined by the
editing and shaky camera work. The latter gave me a headache, I hate the shaky cam!
Director Paul W.S. Anderson's earlier effort, Alien vs Predator, was a much more entertaining flick. Death Race is a pretty dumb movie, but it is a lot fun.
One of things that could have made this movie much more enjoyable would have been a bit more comedy.
There is a touch of humour at times and a semblance of the amusing tongue-in-cheek TV ads that made Starship Troopers
memorable ("Subscribe now, only $99 to watch Stage 1 of Death Race!
Join 40 million other viewers!!") but overall Death Race fails in its
bid to elicit laughter.
That said, there was a moment at our
preview screening when the audience half-laughed, half cringed when the
villain (the ultra-sassy prison warden Hennessey played by Joan Allen)
loses her cool and screams "Okay c*cksucker!! F*ck with me, and we'll
see who sh*ts on the sidewalk."
It's easily one of the most
awkward one-liners ever spoken by a sexy power-dressing 50-something
prison warden babe, and perhaps the most memorable part of the film.
And what does it mean to poop on the path??
I'm still confused...
The
message of the movie? There is no message really, except that attaching
high calibre anti-aircraft machine guns to the family car would look
really kewl... And would get you arrested.
But there are some hot babes
in a side-plot involving double-crossing co-drivers (keep an eye out
for Natalie Martinez who plays Case - she sizzles!)
Death Race
is a pretty simple movie with a bare-bones plot aimed at a male
demographic who like babes, cars and guns. Which is why I liked it. As
an escapist diversion to the drudgery of life, it works well enough.
It was always a flick that was going to thrive on DVD - and it works a treat in this medium - because if you've been
yearning for automobile ultra-violence ever since Mad Max hit the
bottle and lost his license, you'll get more than your fill here.DVD EXTRAS with Sean Lynch
As always, there is a DVD commentary with writer/director Paul
W.S. Anderson and producer Jeremy Bolt which is actually quite fun and
informative. I guess that's the upside of having a director who can
unleash more violence on DVD and reveal why the violence was cut in the
first place.
Also included are a couple of featurettes, the best of which takes a look at the stunts of the film and shows how junk cars were purchased and modified for all of the film's driving stunts.
A good B-Grade purchase.
Conclusion:
Movie 75% Extras: 60%
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