Movie Review: Death Race (2008)
Synopsis: In a dystopian future caused by an economic collapse, people can find entertainment watching convicted felons compete in a violent automobile race in exchange for a shot at their freedom. When a popular racing star, Frankenstein, is killed, the prison warden, Claire Hennesey, frames ex-con Jensen Ames for the murder of his wife and convinces him to pose as Frankenstein in exchange for his freedom if he wins. It doesn't take Ames long, however, to realize Hennesey has no intention of letting him win.
Who's in it? The movie stars Jason Statham, Joan Allen, Tyrese Gibson, Ian McShane and Natalie Martinez.
Review: After mowing the lawn in hot/humid weather yesterday, I ready to just crash on the couch and watch a movie with my wife. We ended up picking Death Race because it was readily available. Unfortunately, it didn't prove to be a favorite.
There were a number of reasons why I just couldn't get into this movie as much as I thought I would. One of the main ones is there is quite a bit of talking and exposition with the action sequences limited to the three racing stages. This wouldn't have been that big of a deal had the racing scenes made up for it, but the scenes were both choppy and a little repetitive.
Not to mention, the whole needing to run over certain spots to activate the weapons part of it made it seem a bit too much like the video game Mario Kart. That, in turn, made me think a Mario Kart movie would have been better.
Plus, while I do try to make an effort to not overthink movie plots too much, the premise doesn't make a whole lot of sense. This takes place in a world where most people are unemployed yet there are somehow 70 million who are able to pay hundreds of dollars to watch a race on television? Those two things don't seem to mix.
And what was up with the outfits the female prisoners were wearing? You mean, in the dystopian future male prisoners still wear jumpsuits but the females get to wear low-cut tops and jeans? It couldn't just be for ratings because they are only on camera for a few seconds and, if I were one of the drivers who didn't have a female passenger princess/assistant driver, I would be kind of angry about it.
Final Opinion: It's not the worst action movie I've ever seen but it's also nothing overly special, just another dystopian film.
My Grade: C
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