Death Race Review

Surggical_Scar

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Feb 13, 2008
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Death Race



Before I go any further, I'd just like to say that I haven't seen the 1975 'Death Race 2000', so, with that in mind, this review is going to be focused on Death Race as a stand alone action film over a comparison of original and remake.

If you aren't familiar with Death Race, then let me sum it up for you: Twisted Metal - The Movie, only with a little more restraint and less clowns. Okay, perhaps not, but it's hard not to see why the concept as a whole has enjoyed such popularity. After all, big cars, sexy women and violence by the truckload sell.

So, logically, Death Race should be a winner for having all three.

Well, yes and no.

The problem with action films recently is that they have begun to show delusions of elegance, that they can get away with being philosophical and deep, yet still toss in the odd one-liner to keep the punters happy. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but many films often miss the mark. Die Hard 4, for example, tried to delve too deep into the Cyber-Terrorism aspect of the story, and ended up feeling a little too abstract, which was a shame, because in other areas, it was still pretty good.

It's pleasant to note, then, that Death Race is capable of getting through the backstory of Frank's life in about ten minutes succinctly and without any traces of the sickening pathos that I was dreading. In fact, the opening scene at the steel mill pretty much sets the tone for the whole film - people live and die at the whim of the corporations.

But enough of that, let's get down to the sexy violence. And violence there is, the more modern, dark and grisly SFX-gore, takes pride of place in Death Race, and for the first time, it actually feels just about right. After all, the race itself is supposed to be a hyper-commercialised, tightly choreographed event, and the ability to push the boundaries of physics in the name of entertainment only adds to the experience. You may think 'Oh, come on, now' more often than not, but you'd be hard pressed to wipe the smile off your face.

Interestingly, even the off-track action is pretty decent, sparing, but packing enough punch to keep the real blood-freaks happy until the next explosion. But what about us ponces who like a bit of decent storyline?

Well, this is where things start to get a bit iffy, because although Death Race is clearly competent at getting the job done when it comes to the boring bits, it also seems set to brush over the main point of the film - that Frank is fighting to get out. By the halfway point, I'd given up on any sort of moral victory for the characters, there was going to be no haunting final moment of reflection, no tears shed for the fallen, just a pathway to the exit lined with bullets. And although some people may find that acceptable, it felt to me like the writers were just trying to push the plot to its conclusion as fast as possible.

What's more, some of the dialogue, despite some pretty decent performances, verges into the ludicrous. Near the end...well, you'll know it when you hear it. Needless to say, it's the very worst application of cursewords to a sentence that I have ever seen. Simply cutting and pasting various obsentities onto a sheet of paper would have achieved a better effect.

The final act, also, is a bit of a let-down, mainly because the final race is predictable and the ending itself is hardly tied up. There's no big message, no sign that total corporate control of a global superpower is bad, just a happy little postcard picture of happiness that sticks in my throat. It's not like other films haven't copped out in this way before, but it's just that:

A) I had decent expectations for this film.

&

B) The first two acts were pretty damn good.

Which made the crappy last segment all the more jarring.

But this isn't to say that Death Race is a terrible film. It may be brutishly simple and in some places technically flawed, but there's still the beating heart of this film which carries it.

And secretly, we all know we'd watch this is if it was real. Hell, I spend the last five minutes today daydreaming new variations on the Death Race format.

6/10 - Going nowhere at 200MPH.

Oh, and there's no G&R songs. Sorry, folks.
 

BladesofReason

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Jul 16, 2008
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As someone who has seen both this version and the original Death Race 2000 I can say that this review is actually pretty accurate.

As a movie Death Race is much better and therefore in some ways much worse then the original. The original was so scarringly bad that it was hilarious and fun to watch. Death Race was much more of an action film and not nearly as bad, or funny. That said it was far better as an action film which i feel this review claims; that it is in fact a decent action flick.

As for the ending it's true that there isn't any huge hidden deep meaning to it, but as someone who wasn't looking for that and didn't see it anywhere else in the movie I wasn't particularly disappointed.

Good review as far as I'm concerned.
 

Mr. Moose

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Oct 3, 2008
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I've been wanting to see this.
Isn't this like Statham's 50 billionth movie in the past 3 years?