Death Race

In a dystopian future where corporations run prisons, a warden (Joan Allen) frames a former racecar driver (Jason Statham) for murder so he can compete in her new rating sensation: death race.

Death Race, taken for what it is, a neo-grind house cinematic video game, is entertaining. It wallows in its own gutter, delighting in the spectacle of impossibly souped-up cars fighting to the death as they race through a post-industrial wasteland complete with obstacles and power-ups.

There’s no awkward love-story, and only a mildly forced subplot involving one character’s duplicity, to get in the way of the gleeful dismemberments and roaring action. In remaking legendary schlock producer Roger Corman’s Death Race 2000, writer/director Paul W.S. Anderson seems to have settled in nicely as the Corman of his generation, a role that suits him.

Jason Statham is good in the lead, delivering the right amount of machismo to propel the story along. He’s an easy guy to get behind, which is all the film needs to work, as the mostly decent visual effects take it from there. The rest of the cast is solid, with Joan Allen as a sadistic warden, and Ian McShane playing Statham’s would-be mentor/sidekick. Both performers are slumming it, but still deliver professional, entertaining turns. Allen, in particular, really seems to have fun with her role, and Anderson closes the credits with one of her choice quotes.

Death Race isn’t for everyone, but for fans of the original, or of the grind-house genre, it doesn’t disappoint.