Review of Death Race

The year is 2012, the US economy has collapsed, creating a global recession and crime has become rampant. In response, the US prison system has been privatized and is now a money-making business. Corporations, looking for extra revenue streams, begin broadcasting death sports between convicts. The most popular is ‘Death Race’, a NASCAR-like race with armed and armoured cars, where five victories means freedom and losing means death. Reminiscent of the game Car Wars, the combatants fly around a track in souped-up cars fitted with armour, rockets, machine guns, napalm, and a variety of defensive weaponry. To pump up the audience, female inmates from another prison are bussed in to be ‘navigators’ in the Death Race.

Former race car driver and ex-con Jensen Ames (Jason Stratham) is framed for the murder of his wife and sent to Terminal Island. There, the warden (a mean spirited Joan Allen) tells him to race or rot in a cell for the rest of his life. The bonus, he will take the place of the most famous racer ever, Frankenstein. As Frankenstein had already won four races, if he wins this race, he will gain his freedom. He was actually killed in a previous race, but Frankenstein is a crowd favourite, so the warden is desperate to have him back. Since he dropped out of the races, viewership has plunged and everyone is eagerly awaiting his return. All he has to do is outlast seven other competitors, including his arch-nemesis Machinegun Joe.

Ostensibly a remake of Roger Corman’s 70s classic, Death Race 2000, about the only thing that is the same is the title. The movie is a testosterone fueled rush of cars, explosions and hot women. Joan Allen in particular plays the nasty warden very well. Stratham portrays essentially the same character he has several times (Crank, Transporter, etc), so you know what to expect. Tyrese Gibson plays the psychotic Machinegun Joe quite well also. The plot is limited and the stars, in reality are the cars, guns and explosions. There are occasional plot holes, (the windows are supposed to be mirrored glass, yet the drivers can flip each other the bird) but they don’t really take away from the story. There are several sub-plots, like the warden’s scheming to keep ‘Frankenstein’ behind bars to keep ratings, the crime that framed Jensen and so on. If you are looking for an action packed film laced with profanity, violence and mayhem, this is your film.

http://www.deathracemovie.net/

7 out of 10

Tropic Thunder Review

Tug Speedman (Ben Stiller) is an actor hired to star in an ensemble Vietnam war movie based on a best-selling book (Tropic Thunder), with two other huge stars, Oscar winner Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey Jr.) and drug-addled funnyman Jeff Portnoy(Jack Black). Of course, with such huge egos, the production goes astray and the director is amiss on how to get it back on track. The author of Tropic Thunder, himself a Vietnam vet, suggests a trip into the jungle away from the luxury and personal assistants each one has. There, they encounter a drug lord and the fictional war movie suddenly becomes reality.

This movie is one of the funniest Stiller has made in a while. It starts out as a spoof of war movies and begins taking shots at Hollywood stars’ egos and the movie industry. There are tons of sight gags, like the fountain of blood from a wounded soldier to exploding cast members to the slaughter of an endangered species. The movie itself starts out with some of the best fake movie trailers ever made. Stiller’s Scorcher series are atypical of action movies, while Portnoy’s Farty Family is a rip off of Eddie Murphy fat suit movies. Lazarus’ Satan’s Alley has to be seen to be believed (and the cameo in it is downright hilarious too). By the end of the fake trailers, I was already crying I was laughing so hard. When the movie itself gets going, it takes shots at Vietnam movies, parodying the scene in Platoon where Willem Dafoe is running, trying to get to the helicopters and gets shot in the back.

Jack Black is almost an afterthought in this movie, which in my opinion, is a good thing. The only good thing he brings are his scenes with his ‘jellybeans’ (heroin stash) are pretty funny. Robert Downey Jr. steals huge chunks of the film with his portrayal of an African-American sergeant, with his classic line, “I’m just a dude disguised as dude playing another dude”. Ben Stiller brings in plenty of comedic moments, including his outright refusal to believe that the bad guys they run into aren’t just actors testing them. His former dramatic role as ‘Simple Jack’, a handicapped farmer is the one that has the Special Olympics and tons of other groups up in arms. In some ways it is offensive, but the use of ‘retard’ is never meant to be crude, just a way to expose how shallow all the actors in the movie really are.


http://www.tropicthunder.com/

9 out of 10

Pineapple Express Review

Dale Denton (Seth Rogen) stars as yet another stoner who lives for weed and its narcotic effects. When he has a stressful day at work, which is everyday because he is a process server, he lights up and all his worries melt away. He buys his MJ from Saul Silver (James Franco). One day he gets some really rare weed, Pineapple Express from Saul. He is parked outside a house ready to deliver a summons when he witnesses a murder by a drug lord and a crooked cop. In his panic to flee, he drops his roach clip with the Pineapple Express on the road and takes off, but not before he rams several cars parked nearby several times. He races over to Saul’s to find out just how rare PE is. Terrified, they flee Saul’s apartment and hide in the woods. In the beginning, they think their paranoia is irrational, but they quickly learn that hired killers are only a step behind them and the race is on.

The movie is a typical Apatow production, with plenty of cursing, drug use and over the top insanity. Once Rogen witnesses the murder, the movie barrels along like a roller coaster, full of laughs, gunplay and gore. The fight scenes in the movie are hilarious, with kitty litter, toilets, ashtrays and all manner of paraphernalia used to good effect. The movie’s lone car chase is one of the funniest I’ve ever seen.

The movie is well paced and very funny but has a few shortcomings. Several sub-plots go nowhere, especially the one about Rogen’s high school age girlfriend. A scene has Saul and Dale sell drugs to elementary school aged kids…not cool IMHO. However, James Franco steals nearly every scene he is in, especially his paranoia while in the woods. He definitely has a career in comedy if he so chooses. Rogen pulls out the same stoner character he has played in other Apatow films. He doesn’t do anything poorly, but he doesn’t really add anything or do anything unexpected. Danny McBride is hilarious as the drug dealer middleman who sold Saul the Pineapple Express. His character reminded me of Wile Coyote, simply because he takes a beating and keeps coming back for more.

http://www.ridetheexpress.com/

9 out of 10