New Clip Shows 'Death Race' May Be Stuck in Neutral

IGN has a brand new unrated clip from Death Race, and my, they've gotta be proud. This two-minute chunk of the Paul W.S. Anderson remake of Roger Corman's Death Race 2000 kind of confirms what we've all been fearing, namely that this might absolutely blow. Unlike most movie critics, I actually do think there is some entertainment value in some of what "The Other Paul Anderson" does (OK, you got me: Just the first Resident Evil movie), because when you make video game movies, it benefits you to be campy. It would figure that, when remaking a Roger Corman movie that featured David Carradine in a junkyard Darth Vader outfit, you'd want that to be campy, too. However, Anderson has gone really gritty for his remake, as if this sort of race would one day sanctioned and televised for real. I realize it's just one clip, but this just doesn't look like it's any fun. If you go back to last August, Joan Allen played a central role in a film with terrific action scenes. Even when taken out of context, the action in The Bourne Ultimatum is pulse-quickening stuff. The same cannot be said for this parade of fast cars, mindless explosions, and a little bit of death. It's predictable, drenched in a pointless amount of contrast, and loud. The clip's best moment is the unintentional laugh it generates when Joan Allen says, in all seriousness, "Release the Dreadnought." Sadly, there's well over two minutes of this clip left after that. Death Race helps wind down summer on Friday, August 22nd.

Comments

[Carv]

Seriously, what the crap is Joan Allen doing in a Paul Anderson movie?

[Orinn]

I do like the toys they be playing with, but it feels so much like a B movie with the production of a blockbuster. Maybe they should of put this into the next grindhouse?

[Get The Big Picture]

I asked Joan Allen this question back in February: "Death Race? Seriously?"

She said it's a good script, that she loves movies like Mad Max, and that she thought she'd have a good time with Paul Anderson, so she wanted to take it.

I'm guessing she knew which Paul Anderson she was dealing with. But she never said she had to pay the rent.

[Lost Wilson]

Joan Allen is a bit of a cougar...hasn't anyone figured that out yet? Didn't she do some sxplicit work with Cuba Gooding Jr. a few years ago?

[Joan]

Anyone ever heard of the Jason Statham Jason Statham workout?

Rigorous!