Review of Death Race 2 (2010) by Harry W — 19 Jan 2015

Although I maintained low expectations about Death Race 2, as the first one was such a fun guilty pleasure I figured it couldn't be too difficult to get a sequel wrong even if ti was direct-to-DVD.

The thing that frustrated me about Death Race 2 was the fact that despite its title and what Paul W.S. Anderson's Death Race was about, the focus the film was not on car chases. Instead, Tony Giglio wrote a much cheaper angle into the screenplay and made it all about cage fighting. There is a certain level of fun to be had in a film about that concept, but considering that the film boasts the name Death Race, it is misleading. The film eventually made up for it, but the fact is that there was not enough Death Racing in the film to really justify calling it Death Race. It works as a way to moderate the budget and certainly comes off as a guilty pleasure in a certain regard, but Death Race 2 comes up short on the racing front which is ultimately its downfall.

The premise in Death Race 2 is a fairly familiar one. Anyone who has seen any film where prisoners have to fight each other to the death are not in for many surprises in Death Race 2. Despite being named Death Race 2, it is actually a prequel, so the film suffers the same title fate that Missing in Action 2: The Beginning did. But as far as Direct-to-DVD prequels go, Death Race 2 is actually not too bad. There was never a chance of it living up to the standard of Death Race 2000 because that is a cult classic that no other Death Race film will ever beat, and it wouldn't beat Death Race because that was a surprisingly fun Jason Statham action vehicle. But for the low standard of direct-to-DVD action films, Death Race 2 is actually a somewhat decent one. The thing is that the film takes its story very seriously and in the process it goes through all kinds of cliches in the process. It fails to transcend its predictable nature or bring much in the way of creativity. When the film focuses on its cage fighting moments, there is a certain creativity brought in by the way that the film incorporates elements of weaponry in though. But still, the cage fighting is not as fun as it could be because the choreography is a bit too tame. For a film which features Luke Goss who has the ability to pack a punch and Robin Shou who showcased his abilities in the Mortal Kombat films, the one on one combat in Death Race 2 is really not up to a great standard. It drags the fun of the film down a bit without maintaining the kind of fun that it could have had if someone like Jean-Claude Van Damme was on board for it. But the point of the film is to focus on the Death Races themselves rather than the cage fighting, and when they do finally become present the film picks up a bit.

The racing scenes in the film aren't perfect, but for a $7 million direct-to-DVD film they were actually higher in quality than I was expecting. The cinematography is still somewhat shaky and the editing is a bit quick, but the choreography for them is actually not that bad. It is not any high standard material, but it is far beyond the standard that has been set by films of the production values that Death Race 2 maintains. The production values in general are actually decent considering the film's low budget because the setting feels rather legitimate which gives it a certain edge. Viewers with a very low standard of expectations for Death Race 2 who are die hard fans of Death Race are likely to get a kick out of the film because it isn't that bad, surprisingly enough. If there was more of them then perhaps the film could have been better, but that isn't exactly the problem. The racing scenes in Death Race 2 are just like the ones from the first Death Race, only not as creative or well choreographed. So what viewers get to see in Death Race 2 are practically just witnessing a rehash of prison films and the first Death Race film in the same set which means that it is lacking in originality. Death Race 2 is not a film with really any surprises to it since it goes along a fairly basic path with a lot of repetition and minimal creativity. The story in Death Race 2 fails to come up with any interesting plot points and there is not enough action in the film, but rather a collection of tedious melodrama surrounding the characters which is never really interesting because if people are watching Death Race 2 for the sake of the characters then clearly they are very misguided.

The cast really don't make much of a change on that which is a shame considering that Death Race 2 features performances from popular B-movie stars Danny Trejo and Ving Rhames in the film. Of the two of them, Danny Trejo makes more of an impact simply because he plays on his status as a prisoner of many films really easily and brings along a sense of support for the protagonist. If he got in on the action a bit more then Death Race 2 would have been better, but viewers just have to make do with his small appearance in the film. Fans of Sean Bean may also enjoy the film considering the fact that it came from the year before he began starring on HBO's critically acclaimed series Game of Thrones.

So Death Race 2 is just a rehash of the Paul W.S. Anderson's Death Race film and other prison movies which means it is short on value, but for a low budget direct-to-DVD prequel it manages to doll out some decent moments.