La Carrera de la Muerte 2: La Leyenda de Frankenstein

Okay, first of all, why did the world need a prequel to the 2008 movie "Death Race", which was a re-make of the classic 1975 movie "Death Race" (aka. "Death Race 2000"). This 2010 prequel was rubbish.

First of all, let's break it down into bits. The story - total rip off of the 2008 version. Nothing new to be seen here, and in fact there were so many similarities to the 2008 version, that it was just painfully embarrassing to look at. Made you wonder if the producer of this sequel was upset about not making he 2008 version, so he just copied that one and changed bits here and there.

Then, of course, there were the mistakes in the movie. The woman states there are 9 cars, and the prisoners rush and fight each other to get to the cars, fair enough. And remember, this is supposed to be on live TV. Yet for some magical reason, the producers had managed to create these segments with the drivers and the cars they were in, sort of presentations of the car and whose driving them. Wow, what a ridiculous mistake that was. I laughed so hard when they started to flash these sequences. It was an epic fail.

Now, don't get me wrong. The movie wasn't all bad. There was a lot of action and explosions in the movie, but it hardly made it worth the effort of sitting through it. "Death Race 2" is nothing more than a cheap rip off of the 2008 "Death Race" movie.

A sad, sad day for movie history. If you liked the 1975 or 2008 versions, stay well clear of this 2010 version, trust me. I am sure "Death Race 2" will appeal to new viewers, but for those having seen one or both of the previous movies, this is a slap in the face.

Even with names like Danny Trejo, Sean Bean, Ving Rhames, Robin Shou, and Luke Goss on the cast list, this movie fails to impress. And how these people agreed to do this movie is beyond me. Haven't they seen the 2008 version? Didn't they read the script? Didn't they catch on to how much of a knock off of the 2008 version this was going to be?

I must say that this movie was a major disappointment, and in my opinion, the movie shouldn't have seen the light of day.

Death Race 2, the prequel to the 2008 Death Race, shows how Death Race came to be. The movie for being a straight to DVD release looks likes a high budget Hollywood movie with 1/4 of the budget of the first one. The acting is not top notch but does have a interesting cast with Sean Bean and Dan Trejo. If your a fan of the dark gritty style of the first Death Race then you'll enjoy this film, however, i do feel that they could have been more original and changed a few things to make this film stand apart from the original.

pros- Good action sequences

good cast

very well put together

cons- could have been more original

some of the acting could have been improved

If there is a straight to DVD movie that is good than this would be your cup of tea. Now i was not a huge fan of the first one it was just a fun action movie with lots of deadly car crashes. This one almost tops it and believe it or not the acting is not horrible for a direct to DVD smash up. If you are bored one night and just want to watch a fresh and fun movie go get this. This movie takes place before the original and how Frankenstein was invented. Don't expect academy awards won here, the action scenes are done very well and the racing was done just as well as the first if not better. If you are looking for popcorn fun than this would be it.

DEATH RACE 2 is a surprisingly entertaining little straight-to-video sequel to the Jason Statham starrer, itself a remake of a Roger Corman cult classic of the 1970s. I'd even go so far as to say this is as much fun as the first film, although it has only a fraction of the budget and only one returning cast member, as far as I can tell. For DEATH RACE 2 captives the vibrant, adrenaline-fuelled spirit of the first film and Dutch director Roel Reine, himself a veteran of a dozen B-movies, proves to be a better director than Paul W. S. Anderson.

To be sure, this is far from a great film and it falls down particularly in regard to the actors, all of whom are ill-serviced by their parts. Luke Goss is nothing more than a dome-headed dunderhead, an obvious stand-in for Statham but one that lacks that actor's trademark intensity and scowl. Lauren Cohan fares little better as an overly-obvious arrogant journalist type, while Danny Trejo has virtually nothing to do in the stock role of car mechanic. The two big names present in the cast, Sean Bean and Ving Rhames, are particularly wasted, given roles which require them to sit around and do absolutely nothing else. Each has about five minutes screen time tops.

Still, the screenplay is packed with violent incident, which is always good, and I like the way the smaller budget is disguised by having combatant vs. combatant fights early on instead of car chases. There's only one real chase here, towards the end, which is pretty decent, although I could have done without the laborious twist in which it turns out that…well, you'll have to watch it for yourself to find out. Even with the many detractions, DEATH RACE 2 is a B-movie done right, with all of the high-octane action you could hope for.

Be honest, was the 2008 Death Race film (itself a remake of the 1975 B movie Death Race 2000) actually avant garde cinema? No it was not! It was a loud, visceral, simple action movie; all style, little substance in the grand Paul WS Anderson tradition. This cheap direct to video prequel, not a sequel as the "Death Race 2" title might seem to imply, is just more of the same. Heck even the main characters looks the same only with different names.

Now fans of the 2008 crash and burn thrill ride of a movie are in for a treat here. In Death Race 2, we discover the origins of the dangerous game; how it went from a simple prison fight caught on camera to full blown TV ratings dependent gladiatorial combat and then, to boost ratings, the brutal Death Race. Anybody remember the cool sounding masked Driver "Frankenstein" who appeared at the beginning of 2008's Death Race? Well here is his origin story too. Before he became the famous Frankenstein, Carl Lucas (Luke Goss) was a getaway car driver for a crime boss Markus Kane (Sean bean). A heist gone wrong landed Carl a life sentence at Terminal island penitentiary, a prison famous for its broadcasts of "Death Match". With ratings of Death Match plummeting, one of the organizers "September Jones" witnesses Carl's driving skills and decides to revamp the games into "Death Race". Nine cars, three rounds, five wins to freedom. The no holds barred car-nage has just begun. As Carl puts his skills to the test, his former boss is planning his death, and he has someone on the inside to do it.

Sound familiar? To say that the writers were lazy is an understatement. They basically took the exact same character types from the 2008 film and changed their names to be new characters. In other words, we got all the uninspired lines, one dimensional (and slightly racist) characterization, and minimal character development of the original show, but none of the star power the likes of Jason Stratham and Tyrese Gibson. Star power alone was what made the original character bearable and now with that gone, they are not as interesting to watch. Fans would recognize Robin shou and Frederick Koehler reprising their roles of "14K" and "Lists".

The main attraction here has always been the cars and the carnage. Despite having less than one third of the budget of Paul WS Anderson's 2008 film, Death Race 2 does a wonderful job of replicating all the excitement and adrenaline of the races. Perhaps too good a job as some scenes look 100% copied and pasted from that film complete with similar camera angles, same chain of events and even similar lines of dialog. The cars themselves and the sets do not look as well designed as its predecessor but remember, this took place before the 2008 film and as such cars get rebuilt and the place gets upgraded as the days go by.

With the target audience being those who loved the brainless 2008 Death Race, Death Race 2 delivers no more than what they expect. If you thought its predecessor was bad, Death Race 2 would not change that impression. It is fun, it is violent, it is a glorified B movie just like Roger Corman's DeathRace 2000 and Paul WS Anderson's remake, and it is surprisingly well shot for a direct-to-video film. Definitely worth at least a rental but do familiarize yourself with the 2008 movie before jumping into this.