BY MIKEY MIGO
I was such a fan of the original Death Race 2000. It was a crazy B-movie from the mid 70’s that involved a slew of random over the top characters driving across a neo-futuristic America in a huge race. The twist is that the drivers aim to kill each other and pedestrians for points. You know how there’s always that joke in a car when you make light of the fact how you should hit someone and then say “10 points” or some random number? Yeah, thank Death Race 2000 for that. So if you can’t tell, I’m obviously a fan. This is why when the 2008 remake came out I was against it. It looked watered down and lame. They weren’t killing pedestrians and it was the same recurring tale of “fight for your life in prison for your freedom”. It’s nothing too new. I saw it “The Condemned”, “Gamer”, and it seems like a few other places. I pretty much boycotted this movie in protest. Slowly and surely I’ve come to appreciate Paul W.S. Anderson’s blow-em-up action flicks. On top of that I’ve see Crank and the sequel to I know Jason Statham can carry a movie. So what the hell, right? Besides two hours what did I have to lose? Since I’ve avoided the movie, I’ve avoided reviews. I’m just now looking at some and wow! This movie wasn’t Shakesphere and it’s nowhere close as awesome as the Roger Corman classic, but it’s not without its charm. You can’t go into a movie like this looking for anything other than a distraction. My hopes were low, but I think that was to my benefit. Jason Statham rocks the lead role and brings some depth to this shallow-as-they-come movie. It’s explosions, corruption, grittiness, guns, chicks, cussing, more explosions, and a few smirk worthy laughs. It IS cheesy and hokey. That doesn’t mean it’s bad. This movie has Ian McShane in it. That’s enough for any movie to be watchable. Statham does his stuff and is pretty securely cementing himself as my favorite modern action star. Joan Allen plays the evil corporate warden with bigger balls than most men could have. Tyrese proves again that he’s worth watching. Then on top of all that, it just worked out. There are points where it’s like “what the hell?! That’s so stupid!” or points where you can almost predict the next scene shot for shot… but so what? In this kind of movie logic and reason are part a self contained world that is the movie. I don’t get how critics can watch this movie and be pissed off about the movie being “dumb”. You’re dumb for expecting more. Do I want to go out and watch this movie again anytime soon? Nah. Am I at least a little curious about the direct-to-DVD prequel now? Perhaps. All in all, I can’t complain too much. I knew it wouldn’t be as good as the original, but it was still better than I expected, which was complete shit. C+
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