Death Race

Adam (my housemate) loves him some action movies--not the kind of action movies I like, he will sit through anything that promises to have some decent fight scenes. He wanted to see Death Race and since I didn't really have anything to do (internet went KABOOM earlier today), I tagged along.

Well, I have to give this movie a cautious thumbs-up. It is not nearly as shallow and mindless as I was led to expect by the previews. That's not to say that the movie doesn't revolve around the explosions and guns and driving--it does, but there's an actual plot in there.

The director did a good job of not loading down a simple premise with more quasi-philosophical dreck than it could bear, too, so the result is a movie that's light but nevertheless enjoyable to watch.

It reminds me a lot, in fact, of the more recent Jet Li movies I've seen, where he combines high-flying martial arts action with a valid theme. I wonder if Jason Statham picked up some interest in that area when he worked with Mr. Li on War. Maybe they had a meeting of minds. In any case, if you were already considering seeing Death Race but weren't sure you could justify it to yourself, you don't have to worry.