Susan Granger’s review of “Death Race” (Universal Pictures)
In 2012, with the collapse of the U.S. economy, crime and unemployment run rampant and violent spectator sports have turned savage. So now there’s ‘Death Race,’ a gladiator-like, three-day challenge involving maximum-security convicts smashing each other up in heavily armed vehicles. The rules are simple: win five events and you’re set free. Lose and you’re pay-per-view road-kill.
Frankenstein, who wears a mask because he’s so hideously disfigured, is the most popular driver in his weaponized 2006 Ford Mustang GT, known as The Monster, rivaled only by Machine Gun Joe (Tyrese Gibson) in an armor-plated 2004 Dodge Ram 1500 Quad Cab 4WD truck and Slovo “Angel Wings” Pachenko (Max Ryan) in a 1966 Buick Riviera chop top. As the movie begins, there’s a horrific crash.
Then – right on cue – wrongly imprisoned former speedway champion-turned-steelworker Jensen Ames (Jason Statham) arrives on Terminal Island, where sociopathic, stiletto-heeled Warden Hennessey (Joan Allen) forces him to enter the competition, wearing the mask of the recently deceased Frankenstein, working with his mechanic Coach (Ian McShane) and sexy, tough navigator (Natalie Martinez), shipped in from the women’s prison.
Inspired by Roger Corman’s exploitive “Death Race 2000” (1975), writer/director Paul W.S. Anderson (“Alien vs. Predator”) – not to be confused with the brilliant Paul Thomas Anderson (“There Will Be Blood”) – specializes in the zoom-in-and-out school of wobbly camerawork, utilizing an inane, effects-driven script. Gamers should recall he did the video-game adaptations of “Mortal Combat” and “Resident Evil.”
And it’s a curious coincidence that thrillers starring fearsome Jason Statham have dominated late August-early September time-period for the past five years, including “War,” “Crank,” “Transporter 2” and “Cellular.” On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Death Race” crashes in with an ultra-violent, fast-and-furious 4, filled with brutal, blood-splattered vehicular mayhem.
