Anyone familiar with the work of Paul W.S. Anderson (no, not P.T. Anderson, the man behind There Will Be Blood and Magnolia) won’t be surprised to hear that his latest project Death Race is little different from anything he’s done before. From Resident Evil to Alien vs. Predator and Mortal Kombat, Mr Anderson isn’t necessarily a man of much depth.
But while that has held most of his movies back (the only remotely deep film on his resume is the underrated Event Horizon), Death Race works in spite of it. For what it is — mindless entertainment — it works on the levels you’d hope for, even if depth is the furthest thing from its sights.
Based loosely on the 1975 cult film Death Race 2000, Death Race tells the story of newly imprisoned Jensen Ames (Jason Statham) who is forced by a ruthless, money hungry warden to compete in a televised competition called Death Race in which inmates compete by attempting to kill each other for the chance of freedom if they win.
I doubt anyone will be surprised to see action man of the minute Jason Statham star in a film like this. These types of films are his bread and butter, the audience having rarely, if ever, seen him in anything else. But in my books it doesn’t really matter; this is what the man is good at and I say stick to it if it works. It has yet to grow tiresome (for me, anyway... I can’t speak for anyone else) and until it does, I say more power to him.
Statham’s perfect for this role, playing his usual rough-looking, wise-cracking tough guy who’s only responsibility in this, and pretty much any of his films, is to kick ass and look cool. This is the type of film that doesn’t call for anything more than that and I don’t think you’ll hear complaints from people that the acting was bad (although a lot of the time it is) as that’s not what the film is supposed to offer. What it is supposed to offer is kick-ass race/action sequences and it does that in spades.
Out with the action, Death Race is a pretty terrible film. The story is weak and clichéd, with plot holes and calls for suspension of disbelief galore. The characters are two-dimensional and caricatures of those we’ve seen plenty of times in the past and the acting leaves something to be desired. There are plenty of eye-rolling moments throughout the film, in particular when we’re supposed to get on board with its overall storyline and how it’s pushed forward, but most of these are contained within the breaks between the races themselves. It’s lucky for us that when the pedal is to the metal this is hell of a lot of fun as we watch cars bash off of one another, machine gun fire being sprayed as if the ammo is unlimited, hot girls riding alongside the drivers, and body parts and blood being strewn about left, right, and centre. This is every young teenage boy’s dream of a movie; it’s mindless fun that just provides a couple of hours to escape from the outside world.
Death Race is aimed at the Fast and the Furious crowd, those who find joy in watching fast cars and strong violence. But unlike that franchise this is less interested in expensive, slick looking cars that look like they cost tens of thousands and more interested in the strong violence and, at times, gore. These cars are like tanks — armoured and ugly with machine guns mounted on every available space and angry, macho men behind the wheel. I can understand this not being everyone's cup of tea, particularly those who desire a bit of food for thought, but I am one such viewer who can go back and forth between meaningful filmmaking and senseless entertainment with little hesitation.
Amongst all of these macho men is the very reputable Joan Allen, who gives the film that little boost in the respect department that it would otherwise not have had. Death Race is the furthest thing from a meaningful experience but it’s one which engaged and enthralled me with its action sequences. And for what it claims to be I can’t say it didn’t fulfill its promise.
