Waste of time

Highly Overrated But Still Good

A Masterpiece!

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

'The Fast and Furious' meets 'The Running Man' in this fast-paced action vehicle directed by Paul W. S. Anderson of 'Resident Evil' fame. English actor Jason Statham who's made a name for himself in an array of action flicks steps into the role of the lead character with just enough charisma and energy to keep action junkies glued to their seats. That is if they are not demanding for anything above your average no-brainer action. As the title suggests, the main appeal to is a series of action sequences consisting of brisk car chases and of course, death and explosions. Throughout the picture, Anderson shows very little interest in plot and character development. For action fans however, this should not be too much of an issue. Anderson never attempts to try anything out of the ordinary to terms of action and narrative, but he at least succeeds on delivering a sense of excitement when the action kicks off. Set in 2012 when the unemployment in America has reached an all-time high and economic unrest has devastated our nation, the government has enacted a bill where criminals are sentenced for life in prison, but are acquired an opportunity to compete in a televised racing show known as "Death Race" run by the sadistic Hennessey (played by Joan Allen). In this show, prisoners are equipped with cars armed with fire-based weapons and must compete in a race. The competitor who wins all three races wins their freedom, while the others are doomed to return to their cells or die on the tracks. When ex-con Jensen Aimes (played by Jason Statham) is framed for the murder of his wife, he is sentenced to prison and must compete in the races, which puts him at extreme competition against Machine Gun Joe (played by Tyrese Gibson) and a path of vengeance for those who wronged him. If you can picture the 'Twisted Metal' games in the form of a movie, that sums up how this action-packed film plays out. Paul W. S. Anderson takes the wheel in generating this film to the screen, and the results are somewhat satisfying, but with some noticeable flaws pertaining to the script. The majority of the action, which takes in on the race tracks designed in a fashion of a video game, are fine and deliver a fair source of adrenaline in the form of frenetic car chases. With the most action consists of explosions, car crashes, and people killed in a bloody and occasionally gruesome manner, there is enough energy to keep the excitement muscles flexing. When it comes to building up the plot, there is plenty of involvement that could be given. The premise involving prisoners competing in a futuristic gladiator race on live television opens the door to a potentially compelling plot. But aside from a just a snippet of social commentary, there isn't a whole lot of interesting ideas added to the mix. The plot is reduced to nothing but action and a few generic attempts of character development. Jason Statham, the appealing action star he is, puts on a good show as does Tyrese Gibson as his rival. Joan Allen shines in her role as the villainous women with a dubious demeanor. Ian McShane makes for a pleasant appearance in his role. Natalie Rodriguez as the sexy shot puts on a good performance, but serves a little more than eye-candy. None of the characters are polished with much depth, but at least the cast can make good use of the little they have to work with.Death Race is a flawed, but somewhat entertaining action flick equipped with brisk pacing and slick action set pieces to feed action-hungry moviegoers. This movie is nothing inventive or particularly inspiring in the genre, but for what Paul W. S. Anderson delivers, it at least meets the criteria of an average action-packed ride.

This was actually better than I was expecting. I liked the premise, the island, the prison setup. I mean it doesn't require a huge amount of brain power to watch but its still fun, the stunts are fantastic and there's a good cast attached. Statham -doing his thing, Tyrese Gibson, Ian McShane, the always bad and recognizable Robert LaSardo, a bunch of hot chicks for the guys. I also liked (Joan Allen) as the Warden, extra bitchy and amusing as the antagonist.And while the whole movie culminates towards the actual "death race" and it was super cool it also went on and on and I just kinda glazed over after a while, with all the bullets, explosions, near misses, gory deaths and bloodshed. Cool stunts though, very video gameish. 02/13

This remake of an old 70's movie set in the future. The characters where all dripping with attitude and anger. So there wasn't a whole lot of range of acting going on. What do you expect from an action flick though?The race scenes were quite exciting to watch. Lots of collisions, machine gun fire, and the occasional missile being launched. There was some hand to hand action, but it wasn't as prevalent as some of Statham's other action films.They did skip the entire hook of moving down pedestrians like in the original. However, I think that was so far fetched to work for today's audiences.Bottom Line: If you like tough looking men trying to kill one another with cars with weapon systems, its worth a look. However if your looking for a "feel good movie of the year" keep on truckin.

A good remake keeps the message of its predecessor intact, just altered to fit and reflect the times that influenced its own production. Since Paul Bartel's and Roger Corman's original exploitation movie Death Race 2000 didn't pretend to have a message to speak off, but instead aimed to be a simply entertaining action flick hellbent on giving spectators a gory thrill ride filled with absurdist jokes making fun of politics for the heck of it, there was room for negotiation in that regard when the time was deemed right to tell the story again. The good-humoured gags and slightly satirical and subversive elements were brusquely traded in for a more serious approach, as the new Death Race is set in a bleak world where the economy is in such a shambles the huge masses can only be appeased by watching other people, worse off than they are and pushed into a life of crime, engage in excessively risqué driving behavior. Inmates are offered a chance to reclaim their freedom in return for surviving a race where they must win by avoiding lethal obstacles and more importantly, each other as the goal is to viciously dispatch other contestants. Enter Jason Statham, who by now is well known for playing tough characters who won't tolerate such conditions and fight back with a vengeance.Statham plays Jensen Ames, an honest man skilled in driving who lost his job and subsequently his wife, quickly framed for her death and sent to serve for life in jail. The wicked warden of the prison, an ice cold Joan Allen, obviously with a sinister agenda of her own, offers him a potential way out by competing in her 'Death Race' programme under the guise of a recently deceased racing legend called Frankenstein, a favorite of the crowd. Of course Ames turns out just as efficient a driver as he works his way through the game, brutally taking out many an adversary along the way and annoying his most fierce opponent, Machine Gun Joe (Tyrese Gibson). As he discovers there's more to his inclusion in the race than simply his established skill set and the warden may have been involved in the murder of his wife, Ames' objective evolves from winning the race to escaping it. Names and a general premise are about as much as this film and its Seventies' counterpart have in common. Very different in style, the modern version is an effective popcorn flick of an action film, but lacking a character of its own and feeling a tad generic overall. No poking fun at politics here. Prison clichés cannot be avoided, as is the case of sidekick typecasting (an old mentor, a nerdy technician, a hot dame as co-driver, you get it). About as inventive as the character set-up gets is Joe's status as a (black) homosexual, a notion with which nothing is done in the course of the film. Why would it anyway? The film is all about racing kick-ass cars making kills.What Death Race lacks in terms of characters it more than makes up for when it comes to its real stars, the four-wheeled (or more) monstrous machines that form its main attraction. Various grizzly hot-rods adorned with all kinds of deadly accessories have been assembled by a clearly enthusiastic design and stunt team, guaranteeing quite the spectacle as they are pitted against each other in road racing, asphalt blazing fury. The plethora of grotesque vehicles – including an impressive monster truck loaded with ingenious weaponry – steering and hacking their way through a course of rusty, rundown warehouses makes for an eerie, hopeless post-industrial look reminiscent of such classic action fare the likes of Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, except with the constant attention of the panoptical media at its back dominating every move of the race to ensure audience attendance. And despite the blandness of their characters, the cast does a solid job making this grim world feel convincing, Statham doing what he does best (and we wouldn't have it any other way). However, under the direction of action specialist Paul W.S. Anderson (not that Paul Anderson, as this one is not known for his carefully balanced quality storytelling), the movie never conveys the idea that it might revolve around more than just decently dynamic action scenes. If it's spiffy cars you want, it's spiffy cars you get, might as well have been the film's tagline. All else is merely secondary.As a whole, the major differences between this latest Death Race and the original are the result of a bigger budget and scope. A true message is still not a thing of note. The 2008 version simply looks cooler and feels slicker because it had the money at its disposal, but it plays it safe by staying in its comfort zone, solely delivering action while devoid of surprise, instead of throwing oddities and black humour in the mix like the original could afford for being a smaller, independent production. Nevertheless, its tactics proved successful enough to spawn two direct-to-video sequels, and so the premise returned to its more exploitative roots (just not in a particularly good way).