Plot When her star driver is injured, Hennessey (Allen) - prison warden and creator of new viewing sensation Death Race - has NASCAR star Ames (Statham) framed for murder. She offers him a deal: win the race and he’ll gain his freedom. Or die trying…
Review
Paul W. S. Anderson has been trying to bring his remake of Death Race 2000 to the big screen for 13 years - during which time much has changed for the British director. Notably, he stopped being plain old ‘Paul Anderson’ and sprouted initials, as a result of that other Paul Anderson running around, directing the odd masterpiece here and there. And somewhere along the way, PWSA - as nobody calls him - wasted the promise he showed in his early flicks to wallow in a state of arrested development, pumping out geek wishfulfilment flicks based on video-games and comic books.
At first glance, Death Race is another one of those projects - a remake-cum-adolescent fantasy - but unlike, say, Resident Evil and Alien Vs. Predator, Anderson delivers an unashamedly brutal actioner that pushes all the right guys’ flick buttons, combining hot chicks, hotter cars, enormous guns, and Joan Allen saying the word “cocksucker” into a preposterous but ready-made guilty pleasure.
The original Death Race was a satirical schlockfest in which David Carradine and a young Sylvester Stallone raced across America mowing down pedestrians for points. Anderson actually pitches this movie as a prequel of sorts, exploring the origins of Frankenstein (Statham, in the Carradine role) and Machine-Gun Joe (Tyrese, following Stallone) and, indeed, the concept of the death race itself.
By transplanting the action from the open road to a dank, maximum-security prison run by Allen’s Warden Hennessey, a ball-busting cross between a Stepford Wife and Maggie Thatcher, Anderson combines prison movie (The Camshaft Redemption, anyone?) with revenge flick. And while it’s one-dimensional, overcrowded with walking clichés (all hail Ian McShane, bringing a bedraggled charm to the role of Kindly Old Lag), and bereft of the original’s satire, the locale change allows Anderson to shift the focus of the event from a meandering affair to a concise three-lap race, during which drivers unleash guns, oil and even napalm upon their rivals.
It’s in the race sequences that Anderson shows why he was willing to wait so long to make the movie. The adherence to practical stunts results in some impressive chases, punctuated by gunfire, fireballs, rolls and spectacular collisions. They’re also extraordinarily violent, as drivers (and their gratuitously female navigators) are splattered at 70mph, ripped to shreds by gunfire or buzzsaws, or atomised by huge explosions. It’s not called Death Race for nothing. But Anderson’s B-movie bombast wouldn’t work nearly as well without its leading man, who’s utterly at home with this sort of material. In a role that had originally been earmarked for producer Tom Cruise, Statham handles the driving and punching with ease, while more than holding his own in the acting stakes, growling his lines at Allen as if he’d just set fire to the script and eaten the ashes. Statham has threatened to become a genuine lead man for a while now - he is the making of Death Race.
Verdict It’s nothing more than an enjoyable, ridiculously macho B-movie romp, but it’s Anderson’s best movie since the underrated Event Horizon. Perhaps, at long last, he’s starting to find his - yep - top gear.
Write Your Review
To submit your own review and rating please login or register.
Advertisement
Your Reviews
Average user rating for Death Race
RE: Er, no, not good.
Bored rigid the other night and watched this on Sky movies, and was pleasently surprised.
OK, actings ropey, dialogue is poor and Joan Allen (?) looks like her face as been manufactured by Hasbro, but, neverless, its a decent Saturday night brain-switch off film!
Full of mindless crashes, smashes, fist fights, hot chick torso/ cleavage shots and Staham getting his top off for the ladies!
Not bad 3/5 ... Read More
For a remake of "Death Race 2000", this is actually nothing like the original. Instead it affords Jason Statham the chance to growl and glare his way through every single prison cliche imaginable. At least Joan Allen is on hand for a little touch of class in a film that doesn't really have any. Lots of mayhem, lots of incoherent action, some good stunts, not a trace of originality. In short, a typical Paul W.S. Anderson film. Why doesn't he just make a video game instead? That's what most of hi... Read More
Not a big fan of Paul WS Anderson's previous films but decided to give this one a go on DVD and actually enjoyed it alot. The final race was a big let down after the carnage that had went before but apart from that I thought it was great fun. ... Read More
Wasn't expecting alot from this but it was better than i though tit would be. Just a load of old nonsense really, but enjopyable enough over your head nonsense. Could have taken a few leaves out of the originals book though e.g racing through streets and mowing down innocent civilians. Good to see Roger Corman's name on screen for something new. Come on Roger pull something new out of your hat for us. ... Read More
Re-makes or re-makes in production seem to be 10 a penny at the moment. With Robocop and even Short Circuit on the horizon the writers strike seems to have given Hollywood only one route to go and so we wait with some trepidation to see whether they goof them up or beyond all expectation make them better.
The original Death Race (with the guy from Kung Fu and a young Stallone) had to be one of the campest pieces of cinema this side of Priscilla. Focusing on a race that stretched across Americ... Read More
Saw this on Saturday and even though I went in with zero expectations I still feel robbed. What. A. Load. Of. Sh*t.
It's no secret that I'm not a fan of Paul Anderson and with each film he hits a new low for me, I'd honestly hoped AVP would be his last film because IMO he managed to further f*ck up 2 franchises (yes, even worse than Predator 2 and Alien: Resurrection) and again proved that he's out of his class on virtually every project he tackles.
"Virtually every ... Read More
Welcome everyone to the most ready made guilty pleasure of the year so far!
It's basically Mortal Kombat with cars, better acting, more money and more gore. ... Read More
Classic
Excellent
Good
Fair
Tragic
