Who is the Audience for This Movie?

Action movie junkies.

What I Liked About This Movie

I am not a fan of the director Paul W.S. Anderson, when his name popped up in the opening credits my expectations for this movie plummeted. But I do not write a movie off immediately because you never know from the outset if it will be good or not. Having rock bottom expectations was definitely a plus while watching this movie.

Stathom once again plays the bad ass action hero in a role that is beginning to show slight signs of wear. Regardless, his part of the movie was exactly what you would expect so it was at the very least average. He does fit the action role well it is just a shame he has absolutely no acting range.

Moments in the film that did not take the movie too seriously were actually funny. Having some comedic undertones to break up the seriousness of action movies is always welcome. Speaking of action, if it is action you are in need of the entire middle section of the movie will not disappoint in that category. The action was fast, exciting, and did provide some solid entertainment.

What Didn’t Work For Me

Seeing as I had low expectations I tried to be easy on the movies faults but there were too many instances where it was painfully obvious they had no idea what the heck to do with the movie outside the action scenes.

Going into the movie I expected it to be a campy enough that it did not take itself too seriously. There were moments like that in the movie it is just too bad for the most part it tries to be way too serious for its own good. The movie starts with Ames losing his job from a factory that then has a revolt ensue involving a swat team. From there it switches to showing the incident that lands Ames in prison, like the scene before it I felt like I just wanted the movie to get to the cool parts already. The opening could easily have been achieved by using quick flashbacks and a voice over instead of wasting the viewers time. How Anderson decided that a bunch of useless scenes building up to the cool action was a good idea is beyond me. I do not go to a movie called Death Race to care about the main characters back story.

Taking a note from great MTV style movies (that’s sarcasm folks) like Any Given Sunday in a few instances the music used is awfully unfitting. For example: the prison is introduced and yup you guessed it a generic heavy bass rap song is used.

To close out this review there is something I need to get off my chest, I HATE TACKED ON EPILOGUES. Why directors still feel the need to add scenes that explain everything that happens to the characters after the main story of a movie ends is beyond me. It does not flesh out the characters and in many ways puts a damper on the entire movie by not leaving any mystery as to what sort of new life awaits the movies characters. More directors (Anderson) need to give John Carpenters The Thing a re-watch to learn that leaving your ending open is not such a bad thing.

Should You Watch This Movie?

I really liked the action but disliked pretty much everything else so this one is your call.

My Rating (Out of 13)

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