Death Race

By admin | August 24, 2008

I am really not sure where to begin with this review as I have nothing but positive praise for this movie contrary to the half dozen or so reviews I have read in the past week, which have basically all trashed  Jason Statham’s newest outing, “Death Race.”  I really would like to know what goes through their minds when they sit down and review movies.  Are they looking for the next “Constant Gardener” every time they sit down to review and watch a movie?  Do they not have one ounce of fun in them at all?  Are they so sure that no movie will ever top the “Godfather” and/or “Casablanca” that they instantly disregard all other movies that have no intentions to mimic them?  On second thought maybe I don’t want to know.  In reality…what is important…is that I like it.  You got to take care of #1 first!

With that being said I will not be naive and say that Paul W.S. Anderson’s movies don’t suffer at times.  While the Resident Evil movies are FAR from being perfect or even in the same league of movies I consider to be good…I enjoy them for what they are…mindless action.  While this movie is a remake of its older predecessor, “Death Race 2000,” it offers a fresh new re-take on the original.  The visuals, effects, and stunts are just over the top stunning.  It was like I was watching a real life version of the popular video game “Twisted Metal” on the big screen.  Anyone who is a motor head has got to love this movie.  I actually sat there at times wondering how the heck they filmed all this carnage.  It really made me feel like I was in the driver’s seat racing along at 100 + MPH.  This is the fun factor that I am talking about.  The part where most reviewers immediately dismiss a film simply because it is not their prestigious white glove material.  This is a dirty action-filled film that…guess what…does not have any intentions of wanting to win an Oscar.  It is a 100% adrenaline rush for us car fans.  I guess I may be a bit bias too…considering Jason Statham’s hero car is none else then a black 2005+ Mustang GT.

I was thinking about this too.  What reeled me in initially to wanting to see this movie was 3 things…Jason Statham (Crank, Transporter, Bank Job)…the black Mustang GT hero car (I don’t know why???)…and the adrenaline filled trailer, which sealed the deal for me.  What almost ruined it for me was the horrible reviews it got over the past week.  I think the only guy who had anything positive to say about the film was a reviewer over at Cinematical.com who kind of has the same mind thoughts as I do questioning what is wrong with just wanting to see mindless R-rated action, gratuitous death scenes, and things getting blown up.  The answer is nothing…as long as it is done and delivered right.  After reading all these negative reviews I was ready to skip seeing this movie but my wife and friend talked me into it last night and I am so glad they did.  The thing I like about this movie is its perfect pacing.  During the movie’s 100+ minute run time there was not one moment of slowness where you sit there and say “c’mon let’s get this going.”  It gripped you right from the start as the story developed quickly and before you know it you were right there in the heart of the action.  It probably also helped that the movie opened up on a high octane note, introducing us all to what a Death Race is and the character of Frankenstein.  Wait until you get a glimpse of Frankenstein.  All I can say is wow!  His face are what nightmares are made of.  To see him walking towards you is right there along the same lines as seeing the legendary Michael Myers or Jason.  I won’t say anymore than that.  Frankenstein was left out of the trailers for the movie and his character was a much welcome surprise to me, being the horror genre fan I am.

I walked out of the theatre already counting down the days to when this gets released on blu-ray and I become its proud owner.  Due to the movie’s mostly negative reviews and R-rating I don’t think I will have to wait that long.  Usually that is a downer for me, to see a movie I love not get the respect I think it deserves, but the quicker it comes to me the better.  I can’t wait to watch the stunning cinematography in glorious 1080P and hear the wreckage all around me in deafening 5.1 HD audio.  Bring it on and let the good times roll!

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Mirrors

By admin | August 17, 2008

OK…so I woke my wife up early today…3 PM…before she had to go back into work for the third straight night and dragged her to see the new horror movie “Mirrors,” which came out two days ago.  It stars Jack Bauer…oh I mean Kiefer Sutherland, as a night security guard who experiences a little more than a few bumps in the night working third shift.  And I thought I had a hard time on third shift…in reality, nothing like Kiefer’s character experiences in this movie.

I generally don’t concede to the idea that an actor/actress becomes trapped in the portrayal of a certain character or role in their career.  But I am sorry…I will never get it out of my head that Kiefer Sutherland is not Jack Bauer in every role I see him in.  Not that that is a bad thing at all…it is kind of humorous…for if I wasn’t such a huge Jack Bauer fan there would have been nothing that would have lured me into seeing this movie.

With that being said the movie takes a long time to develop but when it finally does I found myself very curious to see what will happen next all along knowing that there is really nothing I have not seen before in other horror movies.  Basically, if you see one Asian horror remake you seen them all.  Although this one, because of the R rating, was definitely more generous on providing some much needed gore.  I like that!  As we learn in the first half hour or so, of the film’s 112 minute run time, Kiefer’s character is experiencing hard times.  He is a recovering alcoholic who is trying to put the pieces back together of his broken life after his wife separated from him and he lost his NYPD detective job.  Demon alcohol!  So to make ends meet and to start the healing process he takes a job as a night watchman working third shift at burnt down shopping mall.  It was hilarious in one scene when Amy Smart says to Kiefer, who at this point in the movie is clearly having issues with his job, “why don’t you get a regular job…you know a day job.”  I turned to my wife and snickered…kind of an inside joke between us…because I am always busting her chops about that and she knows how much I hated working third shift.  OK…well moving on.

So the movie includes your basic horror genre where Kiefer is experiencing the majority of the haunting while no one else believes him…not even his own wife.  Kiefer’s character becomes obsessed with discovering the true origins of this haunting and trying to find a way to make it stop before it claims the life of him and his loved ones.  Where as I…would have quit that job a long time ago.  No seriously…the movie does have some really good moments like the bathroom scene you see in the trailers with Amy Smart.  They can’t show what happened to her in one of those PG-13 teen horror movies.  And what did it in for me was the ending.  I thought the ending was really clever and I did not expect it.

All in all…if you want to see Jack Bauer in a horror movie than this is the movie for you.  Complete with all the “dammit’s” and strong vocalizations that make Jack Bauer such a powerful character on television.  I am going to give this movie a C+.  I was going to give it a C, but since it ended on a such a cool note I raised it up a bar.  What prevents me from giving this a higher score is simply because it felt like all of the horror movies of the past decade with nothing too original to offer the audience.  The very reason I liked it probably has much to do with Kiefer Sutherland.  And I thought the ending really pulled things together and instead of the ending I was expecting I got something totally different, that worked, which made it much more rewarding.  I will pick this one up on Blu-Ray when it comes out simply because I am a huge Kiefer Sutherland fan and I enjoyed the movie.  For everyone else who is not a Kiefer Sutherland or a hardcore horror fan I would suggest waiting to pick it up as a rental first.  I would say it is probably along the same lines as watching the movie “The Eye.”  You either like these movies or you don’t.  “Dammit Cameron…don’t walk away from me…” – legendary words of  Kiefer Sutherland from Comic Con 2008.

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