Death Race

Paul W.S. Anderson's Death Race was the B movie of last night's double feature. As a fan of the original (Death Race 2000) I was very skeptical about this remake, homage, or whatever they want to call it. The original was part satire, part action film, and despite the extremely low budget, remains one of the most entertaining movies ever made. The update loses all the humor (and nudity) and goes straight for the action. Like most remakes, there are nods to the original that some will catch. My favorite was a voice-over cameo by David Carradine playing the original Frankenstein. In this movie it's Jason Statham who takes on the role of Frankenstein, following the original's lethal wreck. Apparently Jason Statham is the go-to-guy when it comes to making car flicks these days. While the script is anything but original, the action sequences are surprisingly top-notch. The racing scenes are just downright awesome with plenty of explosions, gunfire, and gore. What makes them even better is that little CGI was used in these sequences. This is all real old-school stunt work! So refreshing! So if you can stomach the story line, give Death Race a chance. And don't feel bad about fast-forwarding to the race scenes.