Death Race 2

This direct-to-video prequel to 2008's Death Race (itself a remake of Roger Corman's 1975 drive-in feature Death Race 2000) stars Luke Goss as getaway driver Carl Lucas, who lands in a corporate-run penitentiary where the inmates are contestants in televised Death Match contests concocted by September Jones (Lauren Cohan), a self-promoting beauty queen turned media mogul. When ratings slip, the prison yard is turned into a booby-trapped obstacle course and the Death Race—part demolition derby, part live-action video game battle on wheels—is born, complete with armed-and-dangerous cars rigged to explode upon impact. Death Race 2 is pure action movie exploitation—a competently made but ultimately generic spectacle of speed and gore (any attempts to satirize reality TV or the media's appetite for blood sport are lost in the wreckage). Sean Bean and Ving Rhames are cast in small roles to class up the film (to no avail), and Frederick Koehler and Robin Shou reprise their combatant roles from the 2008 film; but only Danny Trejo, as pit crew boss Goldberg, brings any personality to this production that is likely to move quickly to late-night cable showings. Not recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by director Roel Reiné, production featurettes on “Cheating Death: The Stunts” (10 min.), “The Race Begins: The Evolution of Death Race” (7 min.), and “Fast Cars and Firearms” (7 min.), deleted scenes (6 min.), a director's montage of deleted shots (6 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is the BD-Live function, along with bonus DVD and digital copies of the film. Bottom line: a decent extras package for a run-of-the-mill action film.] (S. Axmaker)