Death Race (2008)

Genre: Action / Thriller

Directed by: Paul W.S. Anderson

Starring: Jason Statham, Tyrese Gibson, Ian McShane

Running time: 111 minutes

Jensen Garner Ames is falsely convicted of the murder of his wife. He is sent to Terminal Island, a privatized prison where some prisoners are recruited to participate in a three days Death Race where the winner has a chance to be set free. Ames is forced by sadistic prison warden Claire Hennessey to take part in the race, assuming the identity of Frankenstein, a popular masked driver that was killed in a previous race.

This is a remake of Roger Corman’s Death Race 2000. It is an action pack explosion fest, typical of most of the movies starring Jason Statham. The story is compelling in the sense that it is easy to root for the hero and to despise the villains. The character traits are so caricatural, it is a little funny. The plot itself is pretty thin and many twists are not very logical, bur, with a good dose of suspension of disbelief, you can be entertained.

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