Adrenaline This time, Paul Anderson took up not only the racing adaptation, but also for his own handwritten census of the script “Death Race 2003” by his namesake Paul Bartel. The task was not easy, and therefore making adjustments to the remake required the maximum revision of the source material and a strong desire to create something completely new, but at the same time similar.
Literally everything has been updated. If the film of the 75th year was just a lawlessness about the competition “who will pass more pedestrians”, then the film by Paul Anderson appeared quite a clear plot, quite logical actions and a very fascinating story. The truth with all this most attention deserves directly the epilogue of the film, summing up everything and with philosophical thought in conclusion. Attempts to put meaning into such an entertaining movie are usually in vain, and if someone managed to bring out a certain idea, this is already a big plus of perception.
In general, a solid drive in the style of a gladiatorial game for survival, where even if there are rules, they are violated by their own compilers. A world without honor and justice, a dirty and crazy near future is not a novelty, and here the director does not open new horizons, but in a new way plays in The Running Man in similar films.
The decision to recruit actors of category B at first glance is far from perfect, since with such a composition you will not go very far. Always the same Statham, bright but little-known Ian McShane da Joan Allen, the main character of the “Deathly Battle” of the same Anderson actor Robin “Lu Kang” Shu, so nowhere else and not lit up so brightly. But in the end, it is clearly shown that Anderson did not lose out with such guys. But in the original film was Sylvester Stallone, was himself David "Bill" Carradine. Here everything is much easier, but still not so bad. And let Statham once again play the carrier, but who needs him, when the bright and colorful Taiser Gibson completely eclipses all the characters of the film! A colorful figure whose image development is pleasant to observe during the film. And the plot triangle between the main character, the murderer of his wife and the main rival on the track turned out to be quite interesting and intriguing.
As a result, the so-called “reckless moves” had only a positive impact on the film, unexpectedly perfectly serving every feature and element of the script. But the visual component was unpredictably weak. If the R-rated movie is so littered with murder, the camera in most cases shakes, preventing you from seeing a particular episode in all its glory, and all the charms of the R-rated movie are absent at all, then watching the entire drive and action of the film becomes quite boring. Of course, Anderson showed some of his favorite visual techniques with decelerations, a smooth change of angle and camera twists, but a good production requires a highlight, and Anderson completely forgot about it.
Despite the fact that the story is interesting and thought out, a lot of explosions and shootouts, and the cast perfectly copes with the task set on the set, perfectly cutting into memory, as a result, no invention of the wheel failed. With a rather primitive set in the spirit of “The Punisher” and “Max Payne”, and a rather predictable finale, no mastery of visual presentation is observed even close. Terribly served the ending with the escape, completely indistinct was the participation of Dreadnought, no disclosure of the participants of the race except the main trio and Natalie Martinez as navigator.
With no surprises or interesting twists, the film lost a lot. The linear development of an interesting plot, too, should impress few. But the fact is that these things for such a genre are completely insignificant. If you need a cool racing action movie - then this phrase the film justifies in full. Driving, adrenaline and racing to survive – isn’t that what the title of the movie is all about? Are these not the associations it produces when reading or looking at a poster or cover? Anderson justified this expectation, leaving a great positive impression to all fans of entertainment action. Yes, it could have been better, it could have been much better, and yet a very decent remake, very good in itself, and a valuable acquisition in the home collection. A great film by a good director.
8 IZ 10
Original