Movie 13: Death Race

In the year 2012 the US economy completely collapses. A souring crime rate leads to fully privatised prisons. These prisons start cage matching the prisoners against each other to the death, resulting in high TV ratings. They then create the Death Race, cars armed to the teeth on a closed track with not many rules.

Jason Statham is an honest working stiff who’s just been laid off. While home with his wife he’s knocked out and framed for her murder. He used to be a racing driver or something and he ends up in the main Death Race prison to replace the lead driver, Frankenstein, who died in his last race but wears a mask. If he wins, he can go free.

Okay, so first of it says the US economy has collapsed. Why the hell is Statham even there?! Eh, that’s a minor niggle.

For once I have actually seen the original Death Race 2000. And I love it. Even if you haven’t seen the film you’ll have either joked or heard someone joke about getting points for hitting a pedestrian while in a car. That’s where that comes from. And its what the Carmageddon games are based on. It’s a cheap ass 70’s Corman B-movie staring David Carradine and Sly Stallone in one of, if not his first, roles. And it’s a world gone man due to over population movie like many were in that period.

This I guess is corporations and reality TV gone nuts. But it doesn’t really have much of a social commentary angle to it. It’s just balls out action, which I’m perfectly fine with. And it’s something that Jason Statham does really well. He’s a good, if mumbly, hard man with a soft side actor. You know, punch 12 guys to death to save the little kitten who he loves and pets and calls George. In fact the cast in general here are good. It doesn’t suffer from dumb action = crap acting syndrome.

I do have some issues with it though. For a start, the stakes aren’t particularly high. It’s not trying to free a nation from a corrupt dictator like the original, its just some guys trying to get out of the nick from a corrupt warden. There isn’t really all that much weapon variety either. Everyone pretty much has guns, armour and some defensive do dads. We do see a little variety, but I’d have liked to have seen more in the background. That might just be me being greedy though.

Changing the race from across country to laps around the same track for three stages was a mistake in my book too. One of the things I love about the original is that its across country. I can’t get enough of that. Smokey and the Bandit, Cannonball Run, the Gumball. Big wide open races are just FUN. If and when I watch the dodgy knock off, Death Racers, or this that’ll possibly be the only thing that I think they did better as its cross country.

And there’s a big fuck off truck in the middle made by the guards to outgun everyone. That was kinda ruining it for me for a while. I can see the results it gains were necessary but there might have been a better way to do it than a pretty stupid set piece. In fact most of the dirty on track tactics that the warden uses would probably have pissed me off at home if I was watching the Death Race show as they’re rather blatant and not as clever and nuanced as they should have been.

But we’re talking about Paul WS Anderson here so what do you expect really? This film is actually 12 times better than it should be with that monkey on it’s back. The dodgy Soldier, the TERRIBLE Resident Evil (I like the second one though, but had major issues with the first) and the massively wasted opportunity of AVP (“I’m a huge fan of both franchises.” Could have fooled me douchebag) means that I fear this guys output. I fear it a little less after this though. I guess every turd has a few peanuts…

HEY, I thought that last line was clever.

Next up: I Want Candy