It is evident that we are officially in dump season with the arrival of the lousy and stupidly contrived Death Race. Dump season usually occurs from the end of August to November each year, in which studios dump films that they do not deem to worthy, hoping to make money on them, but most usually end up being some of the worst films of the year. Case and point with Death Race, which is an ultra-violent action race film that is based off of the Roger Corman’s 1975 cult film Death Race 2000.
The film takes place in 2012 and the economy is in an all time low. Jensen Ames (Jason Statham) is an ex-Nascar driver and dedicated family man that has just be laid off from a local factory. The same night, he is framed for his wife’s murder and his baby girl is left fatherless as Jensen is taken to Terminal Island prison. The prison is run by the collective, but slithering warden Hennessey (Joan Allen), who has tapped into the local pay-per-view medium to earn money. The prisoners now participate live in Death Race, in which the contestants race in industrial areas and close-in tracks with cars loaded with machine guns, napalm, smoke, oil, rocket launchers, etc. The goal is for a prisoner to win five races, and Hennessey will let them go free. The audience loves the smashing action and gory deaths of the contestants, which occurs more often than ones that win. Hennessey makes Jensen a deal to take on the identify of a fame masked driver named Frankenstein. The real Frankenstein met his death in the last race, but it was kept away from the public. Hennessey informs Jensen that Frankenstein already had won 4 races, and all that Jensen needs to do is win one more to get his life back. Hesitant at first, but with no real choice Jensen joins the race under a different identity, but gains a trusty pit crew leader in Coach (Ian McShane) and a sexy navigator in Case (Natalie Martinez). Jensen biggest competition is not only racer Machine Gun Joe (Tyrese Gibson), but the obstacles themselves, in which Hennessey controls combat, fire, and when the participants can use their weapons.
No comments:
Post a Comment