DEATH RACE is a noisy film. From the second the movie begins, we're in over our heads in a world of explosions, high speed pursuit, blaring and expletive-ridden rap music and muscled men shouting at and intimidating each other. Forget subtlety, the traces of a genuine script, and acting: what we have here is a cartoon or video game put up on the big screen to be enjoyed with popcorn and then discarded afterwards as a noisy, violent snack. It's a guy's movie through and through, unashamedly based at the male demographic in every respect, from the tacked-on gore scenes to Statham's appealing hard man hero and the presence of numerous 'honeys', dressed in impossibly tight clothing and heaving cleavage at every opportunity.

Of course this is a remake of the '70s drive-in flick DEATH RACE 2000, which was a low budget effort and one I didn't particularly like that much. There's a nice cameo from Keith Carradine at the very opening of this film, and Roger Corman's credited as an executive producer, but there the similarities end. The new DEATH RACE is very much par for the course: hyper violent, over edited and often noisy and confusing. It starts off as the usual prison movie and couldn't be more clichéd if it tried: tons of movies kept coming to mind, from Van Damme's IN HELL (even one of the actors is the same, playing the same role) to Stallone's LOCK UP and many more besides. Statham's tough and taciturn, bad guys spit in his food and there are a bunch of mechanics hanging around in a garage, led by Ian McShane, turning up for his paycheque as Statham's mentor.

So far, so inane. Then the races begin. Great! There are three of them, and they're the highlight of this movie. They're super-fast and super-violent and feature excellent stunts of vehicles flipping over, crashing and flying into the air. Everything's captured beautifully and the addition of insanely powerful weaponry adds to the fun. The first two races are the best parts of the film, especially when the 'dreadnaught' makes an appearance.

What of the actors? Well, they're there to drive the cars, nothing else. Statham does his patented tough guy shtick without breaking a sweat, Tyrese Gibson barely registers, and Joan Allen is slightly embarrassing as the film's villain – she was so much better in the BOURNE films than she is here. Robin Shou, whom we kind of remember from the '90s MORTAL KOMBAT movies, is big and bald, and one of the chief villains is played by Max Ryan, a bad guy I like who starred in KISS OF THE DRAGON.

This movie is pretty entertaining, if you're in the right mood and don't expect too much. The presence of Paul W. S. Anderson as director is a black mark against it but the good news is that this movie's far better than both RESIDENT EVIL and ALIEN VS. PREDATOR. The only thing that I didn't like was the climax, which is so predictable and unexciting in the face of what's come before. There's a ludicrous 'twist' involving a bomb getting through all manner of security which has clearly been tacked on without having been thought out beforehand, and a cheesy happy ending that'll make you gag. Still, this ending can't really spoil the fun races that have come before it.

It's 2012. It's a dystopian world where prisons run gladiator-like competitions for profit. Jensen Ames (Jason Statham) is framed for the murder of his wife. In prison, he is coerced by warden Hennessey (Joan Allen) into racing for his freedom. If he wins one race, he can walk.

Paul W.S. Anderson is the driving force behind the Resident Evil franchise. He has built a pretty good resume of top notch big budget movies from B-movie ideas. That's what this is. You get cars, action, and T&A. It's a B-movie idea done by good actors and good director. Jason Statham does his best bad ass. Natalie Martinez provides the T&A. The action is fun. There isn't much else that can be expected. The race being split in 3 is probably a mistake. It makes the last section not as compelling or as fun.

Based on the not very good cult 1976 film Death Race 2000.

Death Race very much goes the Fast and Furious route. Both Jason Statham and Tyrese Gibson are now associated with that franchise.

Jensen Ames (Jason Statham) is a former race driver framed for killing his wife. Prison warden Hennessey (Joan Allen) is famed for her gladiatorial death race contests which attracts millions of web viewers.

Hennessey needs a driver to impersonate the masked Frankenstein, the famed driver who is one win away from freedom. Jensen is the man but he realises that it is just too coincidental that he was framed at just the right time the warden was looking for a race driver.

This movie lacks the dark comic allegory of violence as entertainment of the original movie. What is does have are fast cars, thrills and spills and lots of action. Even director Paul W.S. Anderson has a hard time messing this one up. I'm sure he tried.