Review of Death Race (2008) by Jeff B — 17 Aug 2010

This reviewer would like to say that the ingenuity of Death Race?s plot alone puts it far and above the heads of most summer blockbusters?only the movie proves to be a remake of a much more ingenious Roger Corman B-movie. But your reviewer would further like to say that the added twist (the original dealt with cross-country racers hitting pedestrians for points whereas the remake deals with prisoners racing to the death on a high-rated TV program)?only the Arnold Schwarzenegger actioner The Running Man pre-sold this concept over 20 year ago?even before the meteoric rise of reality TV. What this leaves is a half-decent bloodsport that wants very badly to be a big-budget B-movie.

In this R-rated actioner, a prison inmate (Statham) competes for his freedom in an ultraviolent auto race using heavily armed and armored cars.

Through countless pictures (Crank, War), Statham has sneered and squinted himself to kick-ass stardom. But dammit if he does not pull off this act in spades. Here, with the help of paycheck-cashing character performances by Allen and Ian McShane, he sells through the breakneck action and insipid dialogue. The same can mostly be said for director Paul W.S. Anderson who seems to have a predilection for gratuitous violence. In a sequence somehow meant to rouse moviegoers to their feet, one of the drivers gets out of his vehicle to finish off the competition by hand. Gray matter splatters, of course, but Anderson seems to miss the ironic point of the script?bloodthirsty viewers are no better than the perpetrators themselves.

Bottom line: The Gutterball Run.