Harry here... It's the Holiday time period. Post Christmas.... Pre New Year... I'm in an incredibly good mood... or was. I think I had completely given up on the notion that Paul (worthless shit) Anderson was remaking DEATH RACE... A film that at one point was to be directed by Jan De Bont and had folks like Tom Cruise and Sylvester Stallone rumored to be attached. But then... like a post-apocalyptic cockroach crawling out of the wreckage of eons of development hell imerges... Paul W.S. Anderson... An incredibly nice and charismatic smoldering train wreck of talent. He has written and is directing this film, that a press release describes as thus:
Genre: Action-Thriller Cast: Jason Statham, Joan Allen, Tyrese Gibson, Ian McShane Directed by: Paul W.S. Anderson Screenplay by: Paul W.S. Anderson Producers: Jeremy Bolt, Paul W.S. Anderson, Paula Wagner Executive Producers: Roger Corman, Dennis E. Jones Jason Statham leads the cast of an action-thriller set in the post-industrial wasteland of tomorrow, with the world’s most brutal sporting event as its backdrop. A penitentiary full of felons has inspired the jailers to create a grisly pastime ripe for lucrative kickbacks. Now, adrenalized inmates, a global audience hungry for televised violence and a spectacular arena come together to form the Death Race. Three-time speedway champion Jensen Ames (Statham) is an expert at survival in the harsh landscape that has become our country. Just as he thinks he has turned his life around, the ex-con is framed for a gruesome murder he didn’t commit. Forced to don the mask of the mythical driver Frankenstein—a crowd favorite who seems impossible to kill—Ames is given an easy choice by Terminal Island’s warden (Joan Allen): suit up or rot away in a cell. His face hidden by a metallic mask, one convict will be put through an insane three-day challenge. Ames must survive a gauntlet of the most vicious criminals in the country’s toughest prison to claim the prize of freedom. Driving a monster car outfitted with machine guns, flamethrowers and grenade launchers, one desperate man will destroy anything in his path to win the most twisted spectator sport on Earth.
The most depressing news? We'll get to see Joan Allen in a truly dreadful movie. But then I wonder... can Ian McShane and Jason Statham save this? Well look at the production design and look of the shot below... Every aspect looks like derivative Mad Max bullshit. I dare Paul W.S. Anderson to make a great film. Every time out I hope he does it, but instead he continually explosively shits in the faces of his audience members. He's horrifyingly inept. I pray this is different, but he's inspired no confidence in me.
