Death Race

Death Race - R, Starring Jason Statham, Joan Allen, Ian McShane, and Tyrese Gibson / ACTION (aka Death Race 3000)

Yes, another remake. The original (Death Race 2000) starred David Carradine and Sylvester Stallone. It was laughable if nothing else, but the plot was somewhat different in that in the 1975 version, the racecar drivers were intent on mowing down pedestrians (some who were willing) for a thrill instead of racing to win (even if it means killing each other) in order to gain his freedom. In both cases, the drivers were cheered on by the TV-viewing public. Initially, we skipped over seeing the new version of Death Race in the theatre despite Statham's and Joan Allen’s presence for the simple fact that the previews made it look hokey. Upon renting it, however, we were both pleasantly surprised. It was not nearly as hokey as the previews made it out to be. There was a geeky little cast member that moonlighted on an episode of The Mentalist that was great (and more recently In Plain Sight), and there were other supporting cast that made the movie worthwhile. Of course, there were cheesy moments, and the movie was certainly violent as the previews foretold. The language was certainly gratuitous warranting the R rating. The movie was exactly what you would expect from an action movie of this type. It was theatre-worthy, and would have been worth the ticket had I been brave enough to spend the money to see it there. No, the plot wasn’t deep and intricate, but that isn’t what they claimed it would be, either.