The end of summer blues are beginning and with them comes a plethora of lousy films. Studios are dumping the films they have little faith in, stinking up multiplexes nationwide.
This is as good a time as any to see The Dark Knight for a fourth time.
Among these lackluster titles is Death Race (Universal), a loose remake of the Roger Corman produced 1975 cult classic Death Race 2000. Written and directed by the notorious Paul W.S. Anderson, a director whose resume includes Alien Vs. Predator, Resident Evil and Mortal Kombat, Death Race takes place in a dystopian future where one of the most popular sources of entertainment is an online web cast called “Death Race”.
Subscribers watch prison inmates race through three events, trying to win and kill their opponents at the same time. If an inmate wins five races, they gain their freedom.
The film begins as former racecar driver Jensen Ames (Jason Statham, Transporter) is framed for the murder of his wife. He is sent to Terminal Island, the most dangerous prison in the world that just happens to host the ever-popular “Death Race”.
During his incarceration, he meets the corrupt Warden Hennessey (Oscar nominee Joan Allen, The Bourne Ultimatum). She makes him a deal: join the “Death Race” in the guise of a deceased driver named Frankenstein to help regain the program’s ratings and, if he wins, he can have his freedom.
Jensen reluctantly agrees and prepares for the race with the help of a misfit crew, headed by Coach (Ian McShane, TV’s “Deadwood”), a wise older inmate who advises Jensen.
Ames also has to contend with a slew of rowdy inmates, most notably “Machine Gun” Joe (Tyrese Gibson, Transformers), who has it out for Jensen’s new alter ego.
With the help of his navigator Case (Cuban supermodel Natalie Martinez), an inmate from a nearby women’s correctional facility, Jensen puts the pedal to the metal to try and win his freedom, take down his opponents and bring the wicked warden to justice.
Death Race delivers exactly what the title promises, for better or worse, and plays out like a combination of The Fast & the Furious and The Condemned, the 2007 action flick starring wrestler Steve Austin. The dialogue is awful, the story is full of clichés and most of the acting leaves something to be desired.
Statham, who had a great turn in The Bank Job earlier this year, returns to form in the kind of cheesy action role he does so well. Joan Allen, a respected actress whose presence is perplexing to say the least, is still wickedly fun in the role of Warden Hennessey, stealing the show as the villain that the audience loves to hate.
Anyone looking for mindless violence, cheesy one-liners and some awesome explosions will eat up Death Race. If you leave your brain at the door, Death Race can be an enjoyable diversion and probably more fun to watch than the other recent releases. Just leave your high expectations at home.
