Death Race Review [2]

Posted by Jeremy Thomas on 08.25.2008

Been there, seen that, liked it better the first hundred times I did.

Directed by: Paul W.S. Anderson
Written by: Paul W.S. Anderson

Starring:
Jason Statham - Jensen Ames
Joan Allen - Hennessey
Ian McShane - Coach
Tyrese Gibson - Machine Gun Joe
Natalie Martinez - Case
Max Ryan - Pachenko
Jason Clarke - Ulrich
Frederick Koehler - Lists
Jacob Vargas - Gunner
Justin Mader - Travis Colt
Robert LaSardo - Grimm
Robin Shou - 14K



Running Time: 89 minutes
Rated R for strong violence and language.

Paul W.S. Anderson is a movie maker whose name typically inspires two reactions. In hardcore movie or video game fans, mentioning him is one of the few surefire ways to inspires derision and groans, typically accompanied by such labels as “almost as bad Uwe Boll” or “he ruined (Alien vs. Predator/Mortal Kombat/Resident Evil).” However, to the more casual, mainstream fan, Anderson clearly strikes a chord, as evidenced by the success of each of those above films—at least the ones he was involved in. He also has the legitimately terrifying Event Horizon on his resume to add to his credibility. Certainly, the Uwe Boll comparisons are unfair; yes, Anderson has a habit of taking properties with known fan bases and adapting them into new films, but whereas Boll is an arrogant and untalented hack who makes films that can’t even be called B-movies by their quality, Anderson is able to instill a much stronger quality—not to mention a slicker, more polished visual look—to his movies. His last film, Resident Evil: Extinction was the least profitable yet best of that series, and he moved on from that to a remake of the 1975 camp action classic Death Race 2000.

The film, set in America’s near future, stars Jason Statham as Jensen Ames, a still mill worker who comes home after losing his job due to the mill’s closure, only to get framed for the murder of his wife. Quickly convicted, he’s sent to Terminal Island Prison, a place where fights to the death between prisoners is broadcast across the world via the internet. The warden, Hennessey (Allen) presents Ames with a way to get free and reunite with his infant daughter. All he has to do is don the mask of Frankenstein, a famous masked driver in the extremely high-stakes demolition derby known as Death Race. The previous Frankenstein was killed during his last race by up-and-comer Machine Gun Joe (Gibson), one race away from his freedom, and all Ames needs to do is win that last race to go free. Ames accepts, and gets paired up with Frankenstein’s old navigator Case (Martinez) and crew members Gunner (Vargas) and Coach (McShane). As he begins the race, which is in three stages, he starts to realize that all is not what it seems, and that he’s got a lot of things going against him if he wants to survive and win his freedom.

Calling Death Race a remake is a bit of a misnomer, as this film has very little in common with the David Carradine-starring original. Only the title, the concept of a kill-or-be-killed derby, and the name Frankenstein are retained, and everything else is new. This is perhaps a good choice, as attempting to replicate the off-the-charts camp appeal of the original would have been an exercise destined to end in failure. Unfortunately, in updating it for a modern audience, Anderson also rips out most of what was good about the first one in favor of a plot we’ve all seen before. It’s a variation on the classic Richard Connell short story The Most Dangerous Game about men hunting other men, only this time in cars. It was done by WWE Films with Steve Austin’s The Condemned, and while that was no cinematic masterpiece, it seemed a more honest film then this one. Anderson has certainly drawn inspiration from that film (and its predecessor The Running Man), with the concept of death matches streamed via the internet, and the result is a “been there, seen that” feel that travels consistently through familiar ground. That familiarity is a consistent problem with this film where nothing feels new, and you constantly can see what’s coming a mile away. As a result, the action scenes lose some of their spark, as you can call the action and what’s going to happen next throughout the film.

The acting in the film is adequate for what the movie requires, which isn’t much. This is the exact kind of starring vehicle (excuse the pun) that Jason Statham needs to avoid. He does well enough with it, but it’s creating a typecasting for him that any time someone needs a super-fast driving bad-ass in a big, dumb movie, they should give him a call (see The Transporter for another good example). Statham has shown that he has better acting then the kind this movie deserves in films like The Bank Job, Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and he never tries to equal his performances there. Instead, he gives a performance that would be interchangeable with the one he did in such clunkers as War and the second Transporter. Natalie Martinez, a newcomer to the Hollywood scene, doesn’t do anything that would win her any awards, unless the “Filling Out a Pair of Tight Black Jeans” category finally gets pushed through in next year’s Academy Award. She’s serviceable, but so would any other number of pretty actresses. For her part, Joan Allen tries to lend some serious acting to the role, playing Hennessey as a cold, heartless bitch that’s a notch above the usual for this type of role. Unfortunately, it really renders her seeming out of place amidst the rest, and she sticks out more than lifts the film. The best performance comes from Ian McShane, who is clearly having a ball by playing Coach. McShane, who was so excellent in Deadwood, is a star waiting to happen, and I would love to see him headlining his own films in the future.

Nothing in this film makes a lot of sense outside of the over-the-top action sequences; the plot travels between pedestrian and ludicrous. To Anderson’s credit, he does his best to make the car race scenes viscerally exciting, and if one can suspend their disbelief enough, there is some enjoyment to be had there. Once we get outside of those sequences, the movie loses steam, and the ending is the exact sort of hackneyed, clichéd Hollywood ending one can expect. I’m betting that you can call approximately what happens already; I could midway through the movie, and that takes a lot of bite out of the film. If you can manage to take your mind off of it, Death Race does manage to entertain for part of its short eighty-nine minutes, but not enough to really call it worthwhile.

The 411: Featuring a much-more-talented cast then it deserves doing about what should be expected of them, Paul W.S. Anderson's Death Race fails to excite consistently enough to really be considered good. The action scenes are enjoyable in an over-the-top way, but whenever you get outside of those, the film gets mired in all-too-familiar territory and the audience’s interest starts to seriously wane. Ian McShane is the highlight of the movie, while Jason Statham and Joan Allen seem like they deserve better and know it from start to finish. Anderson may not be a brilliant film maker, but he’s better than this and hopefully this is just a one-time misstep rather than the beginning of a downward spiral into Uwe Boll territory.

Final Score:  5.0   [ Not So Good ]