Death Race 2 was greenlit rather as a prequel that tells the origin story of franchise protagonist Frankenstein sans the directorial involvement of Anderson, who stayed on as producer instead, and appearance of Jason Statham. Reiné signed on to direct and began shooting in Cape Town, South Africa earlier in 2010. Universal Pictures released the film direct-to-video through its home entertainment division on January 18, 2011, although it set the earliest release date for the United Kingdom, December 27, 2010. The film received generally favorable reviews. A direct-to-video sequel, Death Race 3: Inferno (2013), was also directed by Reiné.
Plot summary
Getaway driver Carl "Luke" Lucas attempts to rob a bank for crime boss Markus Kane. During the robbery, two officers coincidentally enter the building. Luke tells his accomplices to abort, but they refuse; Luke intervenes, but it results in the death of one of the robbers. Luke kills an officer and dumps off his accomplices to fulfill Markus's wishes. Luke is captured following a chase and sentenced to prison. Six months later, he is sent to Terminal Island. Markus orders a hit on him, convinced Luke will trade information on his crimes for immunity even though he vows never to do so.
Terminal Island is a for-profit, maximum security prison controlled by Weyland Corporation, which hosts "Death Match", a televised pay-per-view competition where two dangerous convicts are forced to fight to the death or submission. The prisoners are given access to weapons or defensive items to use by stepping on a marked plate in the arena. Death Match is hosted by September Jones, a former Miss Universe who lost her crown due to allegations of having a sexual relationship with the judges. She now works for Weyland Corporation owner Weyland to generate profit from the pay-per-view subscribers of Death Match. Luke meets Lists, Goldberg, and Rocco, as well as catches the attention of September after protecting the cowardly Lists from an attempted assault.
Luke rejects September's demand that he fight in exchange for privileges in prison and spurns her sexual advances. In retaliation, September chooses Lists to fight in a Death Match against a physically imposing black opponent, Big Bill, from whom Luke protected him. Luke intervenes by jumping into the arena, and convict ring girl Katrina Banks briefly assists him from outside the cage. A riot breaks out during the fight sparked by racial tension; convicts force their way into the arena, and some of them attempt to rape the female convicts. Katrina defends herself and the women, who are then evacuated. Luke surrenders when guards intervene. He sparks up a conversation with Katrina, after which she asks whether he has a name; he replies, "Of course I do." Realizing Luke is still alive, Markus puts a $1 million bounty on his head, allowing some of the prisoners to kill him.
September launches an offshoot of "Death Match", which Weyland names "Death Race", where prisoners must win five races driving heavily-armed, reinforced vehicles over three days to earn their freedom; the female convicts are to play navigators for each racer. Luke manages to enter the race, with Katrina as his navigator and Lists, Goldberg, and Rocco his pit crew members. After winning the first race, Luke is congratulated by Weyland, who brings in Katrina as a prize. Once left alone, Luke and Katrina briefly banter with each other and have sex. Later, Katrina is brought to Markus, who offers her freedom if she kills Luke within 48 hours.
During the second race, all Luke's opponents but 14K, a member of the triad whom Luke saved from getting killed by another racer, attempt to kill him to earn Markus' bounty. This prompts Katrina to reveal him the truth about Markus' offer. In the latter stage of the race, Luke ejects Katrina from the car after discovering it was sabotaged by one of his pit crew members. Defenseless, he gets blown up by Big Bill's heat-seeking missile; Big Bill's navigator fatally stabs her partner after he kills his own pit crew and grabs her by the throat. Katrina and Luke's pit crew fail to save Luke from the burning car, leaving him engulfed in flames. Unbeknown to everyone but September, Luke survives albeit badly burnt; she coerces him into joining the race in a mask under the moniker "Frankenstein".
As the last race begins, a triad assassin executes Markus in his mansion as 14K's favor to Luke, Lists fatally stabs Rocco for sabotaging Luke's car, and Luke backtracks and runs over September, killing her. Intrigued by his new identity, Katrina then asks Luke whether he has a real name, and he replies, "Of course I do." She smiles as they get back in the race.
Cast
Luke Goss as Carl "Luke" Lucas / "Frankenstein", a getaway driver convicted of killing a cop in a botched bank robbery and sentenced to life in Terminal Island[2]
Additional members of the cast include Patrick Lyster as Warden Parks, DeObia Oparei as Big Bill, Hennie Bosman as Xander Grady, Joe Vaz as Rocco, Danny Keogh as Dr. Klein, Warrick Grier as Calin, and Tanya van Graan as Holly.[8]
Production
A prequel to writer-director Paul W. S. Anderson's 2008 film Death Race—which is itself a prequel to 1975's Death Race 2000[9]—was put into development by August 2009, with screenwriter Tony Giglio tasked with expanding on Anderson's idea of an origin story for its main protagonist Frankenstein.[10] Giglio described the prequel, tentatively titledDeath Race: Frankenstein Lives, as "an origin film, in every sense", delving into the origins of "Death Race" and Frankenstein as well as those of the Natalie Martinez and Frederick Koehler characters. In addition, Giglio conceived the protagonist Carl Lucas in stark contrast to the Jason Statham character, saying: "He wasn't framed. He's not fighting to get out to save his children. He's a convicted cop killer. A guy who's worked for the [American] mob his whole life. A true anti-hero."[11]
Giglio's script was greenlit by Universal Pictures in November 2009.[12] Neither Anderson nor Statham returned for the prequel due to other commitments, though Anderson stayed on as producer with Jeremy Bolt and Mike Elliott.[10][13][14] Dutch director Roel Reiné signed on to direct in December 2009.[15] On March 1, 2010, it was reported that Reiné had begun shooting Death Race 2 on location in South Africa and Sean Bean had joined its cast of Luke Goss, Lauren Cohan, Ving Rhames, Danny Trejo, and Koehler.[16] The film was a co-production between Germany and South Africa,[1] enjoying tax breaks for having been shot in the latter location.[4]: 6
Shooting lasted 30 days in Cape Town, South Africa on a $6–18 million budget; Reiné acted as camera operator on certain action scenes.[4]: 6 [7][i] An abandoned cement factory near the slums outside Cape Town was utilized to stand in for the prison,[4]: 6 [18] and Goss stated that a freeway was shut down for about five hours to allow shooting of his daytime hot pursuit sequences.[20]: 03:24–03:31 An AOL Moviefone journalist who served as an extra wrote that Robin Shou was nearly killed on set when a rapidly descending metal gangway had narrowly missed his head. The extra, Jason Newman, said a miscommunication between Shou and the stunt coordinators on his prison fight sequence with Hennie Bosman led to the incident. Of this near-death experience, Shou said he "has never been so shaken".[6]
The stunts were performed with very little CGI, a decision influenced by Reiné's affinity for 80s action films utilizing this approach.[4]: 5 According to Goss, he and Reiné decided that some shots of his driving sequences be filmed as he actually drove the cars, citing the 1968 film Bullitt as an influence.[20]: 03:16–03:23 In addition, three of the cars in Death Race, including a Ford Mustang, were incorporated into the prequel to add series continuity. The filmmakers had acquired new units of these cars, rebuilding them "from scratch" as how they appear in the previous film.[4]: 7
Release
Universal released the film direct-to-video through its home entertainment division on January 18, 2011,[21] although it set the earliest release date for the United Kingdom, December 27, 2010.[4]: 1 Both the DVD and Blu-ray contain R-rated and unrated versions as well as bonus material including featurettes on the cars, stunts, and canonicity of the film, deleted scenes, and a feature-length commentary by the director Roel Reiné.[19][21] According to The Numbers, home video sales for the film have totaled $8.4 million in the United States,[22] with 218,000 ($4.04 million) DVD copies sold in its opening week, making it a decent debut for a straight-to-DVD release. In contrast, 50,000 Blu-ray copies were sold on the same week.[23] Universal released a double feature collection comprising the film and Death Race on October 9, 2012.[24] All four films in Universal's Death Race franchise were released in a collection on October 2, 2018.[25]
The "ardent global following" received by Death Race and its prequel sparked Universal's interest on a sequel, Death Race 3: Inferno. Reiné and screenwriter Tony Giglio returned for the sequel, as did Luke Goss, Danny Trejo, Ving Rhames, Fred Koehler, Robin Shou, and Tanit Phoenix alongside series newcomers Dougray Scott and Hlubi Mboya. Shooting took place in Cape Town, South Africa later in 2011. The film was released direct-to-video by Universal 1440 Entertainment on January 22, 2013.[26][27]
Reception
Between the relentless bloodbath and the thrilling lack of logical consequences, Death Race 2 never fails to astonish and entertain.
The film received generally favorable reviews upon its release.[29] While scoffing at the idea of "prequels to remakes", Salon.com insisted it was still "better than it has any right to be".[13] Cinematical, a now-defunct film blog within AOL Moviefone, wrote that "...Death Race 2 maintains what made the original enjoyable while still striving to stand on its own two feet",[30] and Arrow in the Head said it "goes through the same action-orientated motions of its predecessor with above average [sic] results".[31] Many reviewers said the film was better than Death Race,[a] with Dread Central and IGN describing it as a worthy prequel that improves upon its Paul W.S. Anderson-directed source material.[9][19] Contrarily, Total Film said the film made his "look like an overlooked cult classic",[35] and the Daily Mirror found it rather "[b]rimming with guns, girls and growling engines" that car enthusiasts are bound to enjoy it more than a wide audience.[36] "[T]his movie", said the Winnipeg Free Press, "is no Death Race".[37] Despite the criticism, the action scenes were singled out by most critics for further praise,[29] with their quality described as "solid"[13] and "nicely staged".[38] Unlike those of "Death Race", the set pieces of its precursor "Death Match" received good reviews: Den of Geek considered them to be "exhilarating",[5] and Total Film among the film's "guiltily enjoyable moments".[35] Even so, DVD Verdict found the film "guilty" of "running on empty", and The A.V. Club boring and amateurish; they agreed it was ultimately "a waste of time".[2][39] Other reviewers were more positive, considering it to be an entertaining full-bore action film, notwithstanding issues with the narrative in terms of plot, character, and originality.[b]
Screen Daily and IGN complimented the casting,[19][38] and most critics singled out the supporting cast for further praise.[29] Critics named Luke Goss, known for his supporting roles in Blade II (2002) and Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008), as a worthy successor to the prior film's Jason Statham.[c]Total Film conceded that he exuded "a skin-crawling, Walken-esque screen presence" while carrying the film "through its more face-palm moments and its videogame cut-scene narrative",[35] and DVD Talk credited him with "supply[ing] the picture with a minuscule sense of personality" in "a thankless role".[7] Danny Trejo, Ving Rhames, and Sean Bean were credited by some with keeping the film entertaining.[5][33][40] Even so, The Record said they delivered "scenery-chewing turns",[41] and Exclaim! found Trejo and Rhames underutilized in roles "so modest and glazed over".[43] Likewise, Den of Geek said the film struggled with its treatment of the female characters, in that Tanit Phoenix and Lauren Cohan were made to play Goss' love interest and a "ruthlessly ambitious arch bitch" devoid of emotional depth and dignity; "I think what's more of a shame, though," said they, "is that the female cast wasn't given the same attention as the males."[5]Total Film said the acting was "awful", but that Bean at least "provides welcome respites from all the prison-based dullness".[35] DVD Talk commented that the goal of the film is to show not acting prowess but bloody violence, guns, and women as sexual objects, citing Cohan's "agonizing, cleavage-popping performance" in a promiscuous role as an example.[7]
Cinematical and Screen Daily found the film's production values spectacular for a direct-to-video release,[30][38] whereas ComingSoon.net criticized them as shoddy.[44] "Visually, Death Race 2 is impressive...but Reiné relies on too many clichés, such as elongated slow motion and a horrible electronic soundtrack seemingly pulled from a decade-old Matrix clone, which grates more than entertain," wrote Exclaim![43] Similarly, ComingSoon.net argued that Reiné abandoned plot for "tons of flashy slow-motion shots, multiple 360-degree pans and countless 'cool looking' inserts".[44] Even so, DVD Talk described Death Race 2 as "a visually stimulating picture that keeps to basic ingredients", praising its stunts, "crisp cinematography", and willingness to fully take advantage of its premise "with a little more spunk".[7]IGN credited Reiné with making the film look slick and more expensive than its budget suggests on Blu-ray,[19] while HorrorNews.net found the editing "top notch" and the soundtrack "pretty bad ass".[42]Den of Geek acknowledged that the film "still had moments of unfinished effects,... but, if anything, it added to the B-movie charm",[5] and Fearnet said it was "quite a bit better than what normally passes for a 'DTV sequel'".[40]
Footnotes
^ abWhile Reiné quoted the film's budget at 10% of its predecessor,[7] sources have reported conflicting estimates: $6 million or less (The Numbers),[17] $7 million (The Hollywood Reporter),[18] and $18 million (IGN).[19]
^Kirkland, Bruce (January 30, 2011). "Guilty pleasure; Direct-to-DVD prequel Death Race 2 is better than it has any right to be". Ottawa Sun. Canada. p. E2. ProQuest2215579903.
^Dowler, Andrew (January 20–27, 2011). "Death Race 2". Now. No. 1513. Canada. Archived from the original on October 23, 2011. Retrieved August 25, 2024.