Death Race

2.5/4

Starring: Jason Statham, Ian McShane, Tyrese Gibson, Joan Allen

Rated R for Strong Violence and Language

It’s nice to know that in an era where PG-13 is king (especially when it comes to action movies), Hollywood is still willing to recognize that not every action movie lover is in junior high school.  Paul W.S. Anderson’s remake of “Death Race 2000” (which I have not seen) is a bonafide R-rated action movie.  It’s loud, grim and packed with brutal action.  No one is going to confuse this movie for something aimed at Justin Bieber’s fans.

The opening title card is so on-target that it’s almost not funny.  In 2012, the US economy has collapsed, and one of the biggest entertainment enterprises is a sadistic game called “Death Race.”  Prisoners race around a prison island in heavily armored cars, literally trying to destroy their opponents.  If they win five races, they automatically get released.  Of course, no one has ever managed to do it.

A former racer named Jensen Aimes (Statham) has just been framed for his wife’s murder.  The prison warden, Hennessey (Allen), comes to him with an opportunity:  Death Race’s most popular contestant, Frankenstein (an uncredited David Carradine from the original), has just been killed in the last race.  No one knows this but her and a few others.  Because Frankenstein wore a mask to cover his injuries, no one will know the difference if Aimes replaces him.  Hennessey’s deal is that if he takes over the role of Frankenstein and wins the final race, he gets his freedom.

This is not a high concept movie by any stretch of the imagination.  It’s really an excuse for Anderson to go wild and show as much high octane action as possible.  Although not the best filmmaker, Anderson isn’t a hack either.  “Event Horizon” is an underrated horror freakshow, and “Aliens vs. Predator” is cheesy fun.  Anderson does what few action movies manage to do: generate a palpable level of tension and sustain it.  The races are exciting and full of testosterone (this is the definition of a “guy movie”).

The problem with the races is that Anderson cuts too quickly, and tries to keep track of all the cars at once.  While this definitely opens the door for more carnage, it also makes things confusing as to who is who (the extremely desaturated look of the film makes it even harder to tell them apart).  Another racing film, “Speed Racer,” managed to increase the adrenaline without confusing us because it the action centered on the lead character.  With a few rewrites, Anderson could have done the same thing and gotten the same amount of action.

The acting is of little importance in movies like this, and “Death Race” is no different.  Jason Statham does his usual British badass routine, and it works (although his accent renders some of his dialogue hard to understand).  Ian McShane adds some class as the weary Coach, the leader of Jensen’s crew.  Coach is there not because he has to be, but because he knows that he can’t function in the outside world anymore.  The weak links are Tyrese Gibson and surprisingly, Joan Allen.  Gibson is a good actor, but he’s not as menacing as one might assume.  Similarly, Allen is also lacking.  Allen is clearly enjoying herself playing a bitch in high heels, but it’s entirely reasonable to think that another talented actress could have done it better.  She is an amazingly gifted actress, but her protrayal lacks bite.

There are too many plotholes (some fairly obvious) and confusing moments for me to recommend “Death Race” outright.  But there are some people who aren’t as discriminating as I am.  If you’re looking for a testosterone-soaked adrenaline cocktail, this will fit the bill handsomely.  Watch it with a few beers and some ultra-macho friends, and you’ll have a great time.