Last Sunday, my friend Janice talked me into seeing “Death Race,” a remake of the 1975 classic starring David Carradine and Sylvester Stallone.<\/p>\n
Perhaps “classic” is a bit of a stretch.\u00a0 The original was considered cheeseball drive-in fare at the time of its release but has gained a measure of respectability over the years.\u00a0 And why shouldn’t it?\u00a0 It glorified violence without apology and never expected moviegoers to take it seriously.<\/p>\n
I read reviews of the remake and they were not flattering.\u00a0 The new version is said to strip away the tongue-in-cheek silliness and irony, replacing it with unintentional silliness and Jason Statham.<\/p>\n
“It’s going to suck,” I told Janice.<\/p>\n
“Maybe for you,” she said.\u00a0 “Car races and violence are like porn to me.”<\/p>\n
That settled that.\u00a0 A gentleman never denies a lady her porn.<\/p>\n
I have to admit that as far as cinematic butt nuggets go, this one was fairly tolerable.\u00a0 Plot was kept to a merciful minimum.\u00a0 The departure from the original putting the race in a prison worked well and included ice-bitch warden as a villain for the audience to direct their misogyny.\u00a0 There was even a “Shawshank Redemption” moment at the end, albeit one with a hot babe in cut offs shaking her butt in slow motion.<\/p>\n
For the rest, there was an almost nonstop roaring of engines, twisted metal, and blood spatter.\u00a0 Every so often, Statham would lament his personal demons but in a movie like this, no one can be expected to give a shit.<\/p>\n
Janice loved the flick for her own unhealthy reasons.\u00a0 I found it entertaining and walked out of the theater with a smirk on my face.\u00a0 If only I could believe that the filmmakers were in on the joke.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Last Sunday, my friend Janice talked me into seeing “Death Race,” a remake of the 1975 classic starring David Carradine and Sylvester Stallone. Perhaps “classic” is a bit of a stretch.\u00a0 The original was considered cheeseball drive-in fare at the time of its release but has gained a measure of respectability over the years.\u00a0 And … Continue reading Into the Maw of the Metroplex<\/span>