“Get ready for a killer ride!”
The tagline isn’t wrong. This isn’t a case of bait and switch as so many films are these days. Hype about fear instilled by the goriest, scariest film ever made, so often falls flat, the scariest thing being the machine that plugs them. Death Race isn’t a horror film, but it falls on a similar hype wagon as the slasher genre. And while this isn’t the best filmI’ve ever seen, it certainly is and is about, a “killer ride.” Its just that itkills with mediocrity.
Death Race is Paul Anderson’s take on the 1975 futuristic thrill ride, Death Race 2000, starring a young Sly Stallone. This latest interpretation of the story, is about Jensen Ames (Jason Statham), an ex-racecar driver, wrongfully imprisoned for the murder of his wife. The theory is that he was brought there by an manically enterprising warden named, Hennessey (Joan Allen). Hennessey is the mastermind behind the “Death Race,” a brutal three round series of races between incarcerated convicts. Win, and they earn freedom. Lose, and… well… they're dead.
That’s it. It’s simple. Convicts chase one another around a track in supped up muscle cars armed from the floor up with massive machine guns, oil and smoke for defense, and whatever else each pit crew can come up with to keep their drivers safe. Jason Statham is Jason Statham. He’s monotone and mean. He’s tougher than the rest of the cast combined. He’s on a mission.The cast is rounded out nicely as Ian McShane plays an institutionalized Coach, Tyrese Gibson plays the ego-centric “Machinegun Joe” and Natile Martinez sitsshotgun as the teams beautiful navigator.
Fast cars, hot women, guns, explosions… what more could youask for? It’s like watching a high-octane, live action video game (quite frankly, I’m surprised I haven’t seen Death Race for PS3 on the shelves). It’s a fast paced good time.
But then the other shoe drops…
The problem here is when you go to see a film called “Death Race,” you expect to see some bloody, over the top, killings, and the film doesn’t deliver. Sure a head or two explodes. Sure people get run over by the monster death dealing muscle cars. But its not what you’d expect. “DEATH” race,influenced by the great Roger Corman should have audiences cringing as each driver is eliminated from the race, one bloody gory death at a time. But this film doesn’t require a single stomach flop.
In a nutshell… this film is a B-movie with a big cast and abig budget. The acting is over the top, the concept is cheesy and the gore iskept to a PG-13 level, but its fun. Bottom line… this film is fun; just wait until it appears on Saturday afternoon on Starz. I suspect you won’t have towait long.
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Josh Gloer, Movie Correspondent
You can find Josh's column One Harsh Critic, published everyother Sunday. Tuesday, Wednesday… Who can tell at thispoint? at http://oneharshcritic.gather.com.
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