jason statham play one type of character and but he almost always play it to perfection represent the suave and stubbly and and sometimes smarmy would be bond from madcap b movie like crank and ghost of mar . cast him a the lead in any film bring certain expectation basically and that our muscle mofo will deliver a smackdown to the badguys while deliver some catchy one liner . paul w. s. anderson be a director who make one type of movie ( grant and his mortal kombat be my only point of reference ) represent the uber rotten video game warm over shot like something even more adhd than a music video . his masturbatory edit make the work of michael bay look patient and subtle by comparison . so and after a year of be perpetually disappoint in hollywood blockbuster and franchise revival ( oh and indy and how could you . ) and death race have give me something worthy of hate and and deserving of the dishonor of be the bad film of 2008. when statham be strip of his predictable ( yet consistent ) charisma and someone have mess up something awful . inspire by the cult classic death race 2000 and this be a prime example of a remake do wrong and where ear splitting sound and migraine induce camera move make one feel trap inside a two hour earthquake . the action doesn not thrill and and the character be develop through egregious one liner and cliché event . in 2012 and the economy have collapse and and an american public ( the upper class only and i guess ) eager to let off some steam find their opiate in death race and a pay per view event where prisoner condemn to die on terminal island vie for the ultimate prize represent freedom . it an old premise and but one that have be retool to entertain effect in other film . even lousy than the dialog and anderson attention deficit technique be the character and who be not only a catalog of bland stereotype ( family man frame for a crime he do not commit while stutter nerd while harden old sage while and the token hip hop style badass ) and but utterly fail to convince u for a second that theyre harden kill machine deserve of their sentence . a a result and the bloodshed that ensues be pedestrian and ineffectual ( and even bad when play for ironic effect ) while while the outcome of death race be as predictable a you would expect and the total lack of b movie charm ( and fun ) be simply unforgivable . strand in this murk be joan allen and who and a the black hearted warden hennessy and seem to be channel an androgynous cross between louise fletcher and keanu reef and but be relegate to stand around watch monitor while deliver anderson subpar dialog . what should come across a icy and methodical menace ( with maybe a bit of tongue in cheek irony ) be instead sleepwalk boredom and proving that great actor can not always salvage terrible script . when even the head villain be a cliché devoid of personality ( to the point where her eventual fate elicits total indifference ) and you know you have mess up something awful . for all it effort to pummel on a miserably superficial level and death race leave me feel nothing not empathy for the character and not excitement at the allege action ( which be cut so rapidly it next to impossible to tell what happen and and where ) and just a void left unfilled by anything resemble experience . it a waste of time and talent and plain and simple .