I do like action movies in general, and I see a decent amount of them. Sometimes I still enjoy them even when the plots and characters aren't that strong. I was interested in Death Race when I first saw a trailer and I recently had the chance to go see it.

In the not to distant future, the economy in the United States took a nose dive, causing record unemployment and crime. The prison system changed and they were run by private corporations for profit. At one point, inmates took part in fights that were broadcast with only one of them surviving. The fights were hugely successful but the viewing audience became bored. Warden Hennessey then developed Death Race at Terminal Island Prison. Inmates would take part in a car race driving heavily armored cars that were also loaded down with weapons. It was common for inmates to die in the race. If anyone managed to win five races, they would win their freedom.

Jensen Ames had lost his job because the steel mill where he worked was shutting down. Things got much worse when he was framed for his wife's murder. Six months later, he ended up at Terminal Island Prison. Hennessey discovered that Jensen had experience racing and convinced him to take over for another driver. All of the drivers were assisted by navigators, most of which were women shipped in from a woman's prison. The race was divided into three stages, with each stage taking part on a different day. The object of the first two stages was just to finish to move on to the next stage. Winning was the goal of the final stage. After Jensen got pulled into racing, he started to figure a few things that caused a conflict with him and Hennessey.

Death Race was a mindless action movie. It didn't try to be anything else by trying to make things more dramatic or by attempting to cram some sort of message in like some other movies have tried to do. As a mindless action movie, it worked fine and managed to be mostly entertaining. I don't think the movie would have worked on any level if there had been attempts to make it more serious. The movie isn't going to appeal to everyone though.

The plot for Death Race was simple and mostly predictable. There were one or two things that happened that I hadn't expected. The plot wasn't developed much and really wasn't that strong. Despite that, it was developed enough to make an interesting story that I enjoyed. Anyone wanting a more complex movie or one that will make them think shouldn't bother with this one. It did say in the credits that the movie was based on Death Race 2000. I have never seen that movie and did some research on it. From what I have read about the first movie, it does sound like there were similarities even though things were changed.

Certain things with the plot of Death Race made sense while there were other things that didn't make as much sense. The explanation for why private corporations took over running prisons did make sense. It wasn't surprising that things developed to the point where inmates were fighting each other to the death. That was just a newer version of the fights that took place in the Colosseum in ancient Rome. The car race did seem to be a natural progression to the fights once people started losing interest. The race was aired on pay per view and had millions of people watching. With how popular some reality shows are, and considering what some of them show, I could believe that people were willing to pay to watch the race. Having inmates take part in a television competition did remind me a bit of The Running Man, though that competition was different. There was an explanation for giving the inmates weapons for the race and how Hennessey maintained control of them, but that aspect did seem more unbelievable. The way she kept control didn't make the most sense either, but that didn't bother me too much. I also thought it was stretching things a bit for the drivers to really believe that they could win their freedom. It was obvious to me from very early on that Hennessey had no problem interfering in the race and I don't think she ever had any intention of letting anyone win five races.

Death Race was full of action and violence, most of which was provided by the different stages of the race. The cars were loaded down with powerful weapons that they could use against each other. The more violent the races got, the more the viewers liked it and the happier Hennessey was. There were all kinds of crashes during the races and even some explosions. Several drivers ended up dead in different ways. Most of the deaths weren't that graphic, though one did seem to push that a bit. Jensen did end up in one or two fights as well that added to the violence. Most of the characters used a lot of bad language as well, including many uses of the word that rhymes with luck. The movie deserved to be rated R and isn't something that children should see.

None of the characters had much development which will probably bother some viewers. Jensen was briefly shown before he was sent to prison. That did establish that even though things were tough in his life, he and his wife were happy together. He had talent as a driver and he ended up taking part in the race because Hennessey dangled the chance at freedom in front of him. I thought Jason Statham was good in the part. He did the best with what he had to work with. I do tend to enjoy his movies. He did end up shirtless a few times as well. He looks really good without his shirt. Jensen's wife was barely shown in the movie, so she didn't have much to do.

Hennessey was the woman in charge of Terminal Island Prison. She was very focused on the race and keeping it popular with viewers. She acted like she cared at least somewhat about the inmates at times, but she really didn't. All she cared about was the race. I thought Joan Allen did well with the part. Coach had been in the prison for a long time. He was in charge of taking care of the car that Jensen drove. Ian McShane was fine in the part.

Machine Gun Joe was a very violent inmate who was determined to win enough races to get his freedom. He had a reputation for going through navigators. Tyrese Gibson didn't seem to fit the part at first, but that changed as the movie progressed. Case was the woman serving as Jensen's navigator. She didn't have a lot to do other than point out a few things and try to get the defense things built into the car to work. Several other prisoners were shown without any of them being developed. They weren't really important to what was going on. Several of them just served as casualties during the race.

Main Cast

Joan Allen - Hennessey
Tyrese Gibson - Machine Gun Joe
Ian McShane - Coach
Jason Statham - Jensen Ames

Paul W.S. Anderson - Director

Death Race didn't have that strong of a plot and most of the characters were rather flat. Despite that, I still ended up really enjoying the movie. It worked for a mindless action movie. The movie won't appeal to a lot of people though.

This is a movie I would have rated three and a half stars if I had the option. Since I don't, I decided to round up to four.

Jason Statham Movie Reviews
The Bank Job ~ Cellular ~ Collateral ~ Crank ~ The Italian Job ~ The Pink Panther ~ The Transporter ~ Transporter 2 ~ War ~

Recommended: Yes