The second film, much as in the F&F franchise, is by far the shittiest, taking an entire hour to get to the first race. This is basically the same movie as the others, only Frankenstein is (sort of) the villain for a change. ![]() But just as this series of films is essentially a low-rent version of those movies (also ostensibly about vehicular action), with one-twentieth the budget apparently comes one-twentieth the imagination. With such a fundamentally meat-and-potatoes idea, you would think there were any number of weird and inventive directions to take the story, kind of like how the Fast & Furious movies have gotten progressively more ludicrous. It’s an endlessly renewable resource: A car race where the losers die. The descent: As a fan of disreputable B-movies-and more importantly, a fan of the energetically stupid 2008 Jason Statham vehicle, not to mention the Roger Corman-produced original (the two have very little in common)-I was curious to see what tactics producers had used to extend the shelf life of this bare-bones concept. My guess? That previous version edited out this particular shot of a hammer smashing a head open like one of Gallagher’s watermelons: Also, the opening title cards note that “this film has been modified from its previous version to include material not in the original release,” which just makes me feel bad for the poor souls who had to sit through an iteration of this film that was slightly less ridiculous. Over-the-top box copy: The Blu-ray boasts that the movie is “unrated and unhinged,” which is how you know it must’ve received some sort of more watered-down release abroad, because no one in America has access to the “rated and hinged” version. Paired with a vengeful wingman sidekick named Bexie (Cassie Clare) who wants Frankenstein dead for her own reasons, we then spent the last half-hour of the movie in the Death Race, as Connor slowly defeats the others, and in a twist everyone saw coming, decides to take on the mantle of the masked Frankenstein and rule the Sprawl rather than going back into the outside world. Still, we’ve spent the most time with him and watched him deliver a few soulful monologues to a nice bartender named Jane (Christine Marzano), so I guess we’re on his side. ![]() This is how we meet Connor Gibson (Zach McGowan), apparently our protagonist (we only gradually learn this because the camera keeps following him around), who soon fights his way into getting a spot in the next Race, only to be exposed as a military Sergeant and Black Ops specialist sent in to take down Frankenstein on behalf of Weyland, meaning everyone is immediately gunning to take him out. But you know what they say: When Death Races are outlawed, only outlaws will race death.Īn underground group of hackers (a “legitimate cyber militia” in the movie’s lingo-aren’t you curious what makes them more legit than the other cyber militias?) installs a bunch of cameras and streams the new, illegal Death Races on the dark web, while the Warden of the Sprawl tries to periodically send in soldiers to quash the event, only to have his men chopped up into pieces, literally.Ĭut to nine days later, when a new crew of convicts are dropped into the Sprawl. (Or the public turned on the idea of murder for entertainment? It’s unclear.) So it was outlawed. (It’s run by a company called Weyland International, a tip of the hat to a far superior future-set franchise.) Inside, a game called “Death Race” gives its incarcerated participants a chance to rule the Sprawl, but it got too popular or something. ![]() With unemployment above 20% and crime at an all-time high, the government decides to build a giant wall around 138 square miles of an old factory town and turn it into a privately run penitentiary called The Sprawl.
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