death race put me in a moral dilemma . it deliberately trashy and shallow and inept and and for some reason i still like it . make my feeling even more conflicted be the fact that it be direct by paul w. s anderson and a director who try to turn movie into video game and and always fails . but a they say in hollywood youre only as good a your last picture so anderson be as good a anyone right now . not too far into the future our economy have collapse ( maybe mccain won ) and poverty reign supreme and crime have become unstoppable . the prison be fill beyond capacity and and americas number one form of entertainment be watch the inmate fight to the death . the fight to the death get old and america need something new . death race be invent . the concept be the same a death fighting and only you slug it out in an armor plat car with machine gun . the last man alive win and and if you win enough race and you win your freedom . enter jensen ames and a former nascar driver prior to his prison conviction and who lose his job when the local steel mill be close . he go home to his wife and infant daughter and only to have a mask man break in and kill his wife . ames be frame for the crime and send to prison . ames be send to prison and where the warden hennessey and play with excellent restraint by joan allen and inform him that he must replace frankenstein and the most popular death racer and if he be ever to leave the prison . ames agrees and and the game begin . a a satire death race completely miss fire . the opening prologue informs u of the downfall of american society and and it never bring up again . be inform that death race have become more popular then the super bowl with more then seventy million viewer but we never see one of those people watch . for some reason the driver be pair with sexy woman to navigate and even though they have a pit crew to do that . the woman be in it for rating and to make a statement about our own for sex as well a violence and but the viewer cant see the woman inside the car and so how do they help rating . just a few example of the missed satire . but this isn not an oliver stone movie . when you buy a ticket to see death race and you want to see some death and some racing . and you get both and but mostly death . the racing scene be electrify . the combination of great stunt work and special effect and art direction give this films action the boost of adrenaline it crave . anderson vision be to immerse u in a twisted metal video game and and he pull it off with magnificent result . he capture the sadistic mentality of twisted metal perfectly . one driver turn his car around just to shoot another driver . you cant drive backwards his partner remark i beg to differ . that scene will remind grand theft auto fan of many rampage . anderson keep his eye on the finish line and death race move towards it conclusion in a heart beat . despite my immersion in the story and it be way too predictable . the frame for murder set up be too obvious and and before you can even figure it out for yourself they give it away . and a for the end and only a few thing can happen at the end a prison movie and and you know what they be . but despite the twist you can see come a mile away and theyre still satisfy . death race be one of the few example where a bad script can become a good movie . the acting be wonderful all around . jason statham be a read deal action super star . he get the physique of van damme and a million time the acting ability . his character quest to see his daughter give the film it only sliver of humanity and and all a prison movie need be a sliver . joan allen a the warden play her character so tightly she could probably crack a cashew with her but cheek . hennessey be so tightly wound i often wonder be she be go to implode . and towards the end she get a chance to deliver some perfectly time profanity . maybe the last four letter word you while while ever hear out of her mouth . newcomer natalie martinez have infinite sex appeal a case and the sexy vixen who rid in the passenger seat beside ames . but more then a pretty face she get a chance to act and and prof shell be around for year to come . ian mcshane be perfect a the simply name coach . his job be to coach . his weathered face and gravelly voice perfectly fit the prototype of a man who spend a long time in prison . but he be good in a stinker like hot rod and so it no surprise here . director paul w. s anderson have always attempt to make his film into video game and and death race really do play like a video game . that the film intention and it work . it satisfy the blood lust lurk deep within u all . society hasn not get to the point where we watch snuff film but watch fictional people kill each other be still load of fun and and so be death race . ¾ star .