Death Race 2 : movie review

“Death Race 2” is set in the near future, where life is so cheap that the State will simply sell them off to a corporation to do with as they wish. The result is a “death match” between cons for a TV audience, the brainchild of the improbably named September Jones (Lauren Cohan). A former beauty queen turned reporter turned blood prison game show hostess/mastermind, Jones isn’t opposed to sleeping her way up the ladder. Hell, she probably prefers it. After shacking up with Weyland, she gets control of Terminal Island in her quest for the almighty ratings. When cons killing each other in a cage start to lose its luster with viewers, Jones come up with the idea for a death race, and thus, “Death Race” is born. The film is directed by Roel Reine.

Luke Goss certainly gives a game effort as the rightfully imprisoned con (unlike Statham’s character in the first movie, this “hero” very much deserves to be imprisoned), who nevertheless shows he has his good side, such as loyalty. Alas, Lucas’ loyalty to crimelord Markus Kane (Sean Bean), the man who gave him the job that got Lucas pinched in the first place, isn’t exactly reciprocated. Which is to say, as soon as Kane finds out where Lucas is being held, the dastardly bastard immediately orders a hit on our luckless hero. No honor among thieves and all that jazz, it would appear.

By the time the Death Race kicks in, Lucas has a pit crew that includes “Mexican Jew” Goldberg (Danny Trejo) and idiot savant Lists (Frederick Koehler). Lucas also gets the comely Katrina (Tanit Phoenix, last seen in “Lost Boys: The Thirst”, here trying out an atrocious accent) as his navigator, essentially a hot girl in his car who tells him to turn left, turn right, among other assorted “navigating” duties. The rules of the race are the same here as in the Anderson movie – win a certain number of races, and win your freedom. Yes, the future is such a steaming pile that Weyland can simply release, say, a serial killer back into the populace if he just happens to have won a certain number of death races. 

If you were dying to find out how the death races began, or how Frankenstein came to be, “Death Race 2” answers all your questions. I never really cared all that much about either question, which unfortunately means there’s not a whole lot here to get too excited about. The film’s one big bright spot Is Lauren Cohan, who really is a pleasure to watch as her character sleazes her way through the movie. There is a great payoff at the end involving September Jones and a bar full of people, so if you stuck with the movie to the very end, there is a decent reward to look forward to.