It's rare to find a movie that makes no compromises, and is exactly what it says it is, like it or not. That's what Deathrace is, it's a stale retelling of an even staler story that has blood, guts, Jason Statham shirtless and cars shooting at other cars; oh and there's an ejector seat with a really hot women. Interesting, huh? ..... not really.
The movie revolves around Jensen Ames (Statham) who is the typical nice guy, when he gets set up for the murder of his wife. After landing in prison, he is coerced into participating in a violent, deadly race for his freedom. Along the way, he must figure out who set him up, and how to escape, while exacting his revenge. (I should really write summaries for those movie people, that was pretty good!) Insert some crazy characters, some really tired cliche's and some horrible acting, and you have the mess that is Death Race.
The movie was actually based on a movie called Death Race 2000 (1975) starring David Carridine. That movie was much lighter, and campier. This movie tries to be hardcore with plenty of blood splatter moments, and some harsh language and a really big gun.
The movie attempts to be what it is supposed to be, however, everything it tries has been done a million times, and better about 20 times. Here is the formula for the race: Statham shot, with him looking stern; now cut to a car going really fast; back to Statham, more stern; now the car is turning; back to Statham with a growl; now the car is rubbing up against something else; more Statham; and the car is going really fast again. The one strength that Jason Statham has, is most of his movies have at least one really great fight scene. This movie had fight scenes, but they were far from great. There was a few gruesome shots, but that was even done very un-originally. There was a hot woman, but with the exception of an entrance scene, all you see is her in the car, talking with Statham, which is a waste of some great talent.
Overall this movie is exactly what the trailers made it out to be, which is not all bad. The movie was one big explosion, that was mostly entertaining.
I give it a 6 out of 10, worth a free rent, or maybe a catch on HBO, as long as there isn't anything else on.
FUN FACT: David Carridine played the voice of Frank in the opening scene, reprising his role from the 1975 movie.
2 comments:
One word - Awesome!
You liked it, huh? We are talking about the movie, and not the review, right? I dunno, as far as thoughtless action movies go, it could've been worse.
Post a Comment