My usual reaction to any remake is what's the point? Is a new version of an old movie going to add anything or improve on something? In the case of the original Death Race, a lot was left to be desired, but because of the low-budget factor you went along for the ride. The 2008 remake thankfully does switch things up, adding some cool touches to the same basic premise. The cast is solid -- especially two key supporting roles -- and the action is fun, the premise more than interesting, and in the end, it's an entertaining action flick. With a movie like this, I'm not looking for Academy-Award winning stuff, just to have fun.
It's 2012 and the American economy has collapsed, and a new entertainment venue has emerged to keep the masses happy. Private corporations run the prison system, and one warden, Hennessy (Joan Allen), has put together 'Death Race,' a three-stage race where hardened killers, rapists and crooks compete against each other in heavily armored cars featuring tons of vicious weapons. Jensen Ames (Jason Statham) is a former race car driver framed for the murder of his wife who's sent to Hennessy's Terminal Island prison. She needs Jensen to pose as the most infamous of the drivers, Frankenstein, a man so scarred by previous races he wears a mask at all times. All he needs to do is race, win once, and he'll get his walking papers. Jensen agrees, knowing the warden won't keep her promise, but this man with revenge on his mind has other plans.
From a low-budget drive-in movie from 1975 to a high-octane, big-budget action movie, everything has been ratcheted up a notch or two or ten. The film's look is grayish and washed out, almost like some sort of post-apocalyptic hell. The story is straightforward and fairly obvious, but with a movie called 'Death Race' you're not exactly looking for Shakespeare, are you? The action is pretty much non-stop once the background is established. Following the good old Roger Corman (who produced the original and remake) formula for success, director Paul W.S. Anderson has assembled a movie with tons of violence, tough guy actors, and ridiculously gorgeous female cast members who are required to look ridiculously gorgeous. When handled right, that always sounds like a good movie to me.
Say what you want about Jason Statham's acting range, but the guy is one of the coolest action stars out there. He's usually right in that silent to ultra-silent category, using words like they pain him to say anything. I think he's made some poor decisions with the movies he's taken (the Crank movies, In the Name of the King), but I've always liked him. As Jensen Ames, he doesn't need to show much range. He is pissed at the world, and he's going to get his revenge one way or another. Tyrese Gibson takes over for Sylvester Stallone as Machine Gun Joe, a rival driver in the race and Jensen/Frank's biggest competition. The same goes for Gibson as it does Statham. He isn't the best actor around, but he's always a presence and looks like he's having a hell of a good time. Natalie Martinez is the completely unnecessary eye candy as Case, Jensen's navigator. Her character is the equivalent of a GPS with a Barbie doll body. Her line deliveries are so bad it's laughable. Watch the slow motion scene where she steps out of a classic car though, and you'll see why she was hired. Not a complaint by any means either.
With this type of schlock, I had to wonder. Were Joan Allen and Ian McShane blackmailed into doing this movie? These are two supremely talented actors so what are they doing here? As actors, they legitimize the movie just by being there. They don't have to do anything or say a word, and the movie is better for it. Of course, they don't just stand there. Director Anderson takes advantage, giving them two great supporting parts. Allen has one of the most amazing line deliveries I've ever heard (see if you can figure it out at IMDB's Memorable Quotes HERE). She is icy, steely-eyed, and ruthlessly brutal. McShane gets all the great lines and hams it up with the best of them as Coach, Jensen's pit-boss who has lost track of how many years he's been in prison. His last line is the best though, listen toward the end of the race. Coach's pit crew includes Jacob Vargas as Gunner, the mechanic, and Frederick Koehler, as Lists, the mousey genius. Jason Clarke plays Ulrich, Hennessy's top guard and henchman.
In a movie dominated by the bloody three-stage race, my issue comes from the editing as it so often does with action movies of the last 10 years or so. The driving sequences are so hyper, so frantically cut that the scenes are almost indecipherable. You can barely see what's going on with all the shaky cam, smoke and explosions. Because of that, the driving scenes even get a little tedious. How many times can you see one car blast away with machine guns and rockets at another? There are some cool surprises for the racers, but even that gets old fairly quickly.
Predictable, yes, but the last 15 minutes do provide a couple of solid twists. You know those twists are coming because of some rather obvious hints, but they work regardless. And if nothing else, the remake does try something different with its ending as opposed to going for the same one as the original. It's a good enough movie to be judged on its own from the original, and that's always a good sign for a remake.
Death Race <---trailer (2008): ** 1/2 /****
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