Death Race 2 (2010)

REVIEW BY: Michael Banno

Company: Moonlighting Films

Runtime: 101 mins

Format: BluRay

Plot: Death Race 2 explores the origins of the first "Frankenstein" car driver, Carl "Luke" Lucas. After discovering there’s a price on his head for crimes he's committed, his only hope is to survive the dangerous new sport of Death Race against an army of hardened criminals and tricked out cars.

Review: I realize I'm doing this a bit backwards. I’ve already given my review of Death Race 3 a few months ago but I wasn’t reviewing for Watching Full Movie Online Free when Death Race 2 initially came out. Anyway, many of you probably by now know that Death Race is one of my favorite Paul W.S. Anderson movies (along with his Resident Evil series), so when this direct-to-video sequel came out back in January of 2011, it was only natural that I was going to pick this up as a Day 1 BluRay purchase. Now, I love action movies, whether there’s a good story to it or not - as long as I’m entertained by its action scenes and characters and whatnot, then it’s done its job as far as I’m concerned. In this regard I loved the first Death Race film, and the entire trilogy as a whole, so how does Death Race 2 stack up upon a repeat viewing?

To start, I’m not really sure what to say about the story - overall its not too bad, but it's not really anything groundbreaking or new either. After Luke Goss' character, Carl Lucas, ends up in prison, a crime lord wants him dead so he doesn’t squeal to the cops about some illegal stuff he's involved in, so he puts a bounty on his head. Said situation is made easier considering the deadly new tournament that Carl finds himself in. But, as you can likely guess, not all things go according to plan and plenty of wrenches get thrown into the bad guys' plan as the story progresses. Like I said, not the greatest or most inventive plot in the world but serviceable enough, I can assure you.

One of the things that can take your mind off a bland plot however, is good acting from the people on-screen, and said acting for this one is about as good as can be expected for a direct-to-video sequel to an mindless action movie like Death Race, if not slightly better. Personally I thought it was pretty darn good for what I was expecting, and the actors did justice to their roles. Luke Goss as Carl Lucas was a good casting call as he played his part perfectly as both a law-breaking bad ass as well as our central hero with a heart. Robin Shou from Mortal Kombat fame returns as 14-K, his role in the first Death Race movie, and as to be expected from him, he did fine with what he was given. It should also be noted here that he’s the only actor to appear in all three Death Race movies.

Of course the biggest selling point of these movies are the rip-roaring mindless edge-of-your seat vehicular slaughter and action, and I thought this movie did great justice to the series in that area. First off we get a few nice big set pieces - we have a car chase concerning bank robbers which while not the big highlight of the movie was still a pretty nice start to all the fun, then we get to the predecessor to Death Race event itself, a game titled Death Match which is an all-out fight to the death (or till submission) involving hand-held weapons in arenas that are uniquely done up with weapon caches, props, and set designs and came across to me very much like a level of the computer game Unreal Tournament. We get at least two fight scenes of this Death Match game before the minds behind it upgrade it to what the movie series is known for, and the main event comes to call: The Death Race. And that in itself is a big win for fans as we finally get to see the vehicular-created chaos that we all know and love from the Death Race franchise.

The action wouldn't be very exciting though if the special effects weren't up to par with them, which so often they're not in cheap CGI-filled B-movies, but the visual effects for a movie like this requires some nice oldschool practical effects-work that all movies (especially these B ones) seem to have forsaken this day in age, and boy is this movie so much better off for it; It has some truly amazing and very real stunts, gory blood-packet effects, full-scale pyrotechnics, and some truly impressive and crazy driving skills. Oh, and the explosions are no laughing matter either and will certainly please fans of mindless action flicks. All these things lead to some good and unique death scenes as well.

Like with my Death Race 3 review, there’s really not much more I can say other than the heat really gets turned up from the first more in this one. Death Race 2 was so well-made, it really could have gone theatrical like the first, and I’d have seen it Day 1 if it had.

Death Race 2, as far as I’m concerned, was just as good as the first Death Race directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, and was an excellent prequel and addition to the series that holds up quite well upon re-watches.

8/10 rooms in the Psych Ward

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Death Race 3: Inferno (2013)

REVIEW BY: Michael Banno

COMPANY: Moonlighting Films

RUNTIME: 105 mins

FORMAT: Netflix

PLOT: Convicted cop-killer Carl Lucas, aka Frankenstein, is a superstar driver in the brutal prison yard demolition derby known as Death Race, and is only one victory away from winning freedom for himself and his pit crew when the Powers That Be decide to change up the rules, as well as the race location.

REVIEW: Death Race: Inferno marks only my second review here, so a lot of you don’t know who I am. My name is Michael Banno and I'm a close friend of Jeffrey Long, the owner of Watching Full Movie Online Free blog. Many of you have probably read my review for Age of the Hobbits, AKA Clash of the Empires, so we’re not complete strangers. But considering that you do not know me personally, let me make one thing clear: I am a very big fan of the Death Race movies. I went to the theaters to see the first movie opening weekend, and bought the second movie as soon as it was released on BluRay. I know exactly what they are - They are big-budget B-movie action hits. So it is no surprise that when Death Race: Inferno was announced, I squealed like a schoolgirl. Sadly, money is an issue for me right now so I was not able to buy the movie upon release, however thanks to my recent acquisition of a Netflix account, I discovered that Death Race 3 was available on there. So naturally, it became my movie to watch for today and I decided to type this review up since Jeffrey hadn't yet covered it on here.

It begins with the takeover of the company that started Death Race. It then goes on to tell you about the story leading up to the beginning of the movie, and the events that have transpired since the ending of Part 2. Frankenstein ( Luke Goss) has made quite a name for himself; He is now quite a celebrity, having won four Death Races. But it looks like something is in the works as the new owner of Death Race wants to franchise it out to the world, and he wants to start it off with a bang. Now Frankenstein and his pit crew are being shipped off to an African prison where they must do battle with one old enemy and a group of new enemies. It’s a new race, and a new set of dangers as Frankenstein tries to keep himself and his crew alive to see the finish line.

Paul W.S. Anderson has, in my opinion, made a good name for himself when it comes to making some movies that I like. He made the first Mortal Kombat, the Resident Evil franchise, and is responsible for the Death Race franchise (he directed the first and has produced the second and third). In my opinion, that is a very good track record, as I love the majority of all those movies. So how does Death Race 3 hold up?

First up comes the story. I personally thought that the story was as straightforward as you can get - Someone buys out the company that was responsible for the franchise out Death Race, and makes a big deal out of Frankenstein. But Frankenstein has other plans and thus cue endless mayhem until finish, where a nice little twist comes into play. Technically we should know how certain things come to be due to the fact that this and the previous movie are prequels to the first, but I still felt little surprised when everything was revealed at the end. For such a simple and straight-forward movie, I felt the surprises throughout (especially at the end) were very well done and unexpected.

The action was quite well-shot and very entertaining, and there was not a single moment throughout the long runtime where I was bored. You have vehicular roadrage action, yet hand to hand combat, and even some good old-fashioned gunplay from time to time. The car violence may seem a little familiar when watching all three movies within quick succession, as it doesn't really do much in that area that we haven't already seen in the other three movies, but as long as I was entertained, which I very much was, then that’s the main thing for me.

The acting I thought was actually pretty good. Seeing as how this is a direct to video movie, I wasn't expecting like an Oscar winner here, but I was still pleasantly surprised with what we did get. I know that may seem like a cliché statement to make during a review for a movie like Death Race 3, but let’s face it: It’s true. Everyone seems to be really into their roles and having a blast on-set. I personally liked seeing Robin Shou back, as he is a regular in the franchise by this point and I've been a fan of him ever since his Mortal Kombat days. Also, the amazingly beautiful girls like Tanit Phoenix was a huge plus - there was definitely some good eye candy on display here.

I would probably talk about the visual effects a bit more right around here, but I don’t think there was much in a film like this except for maybe some pyrotechnics and the amazing car stunts. And for what it’s worth, I thought those were really well done, and you definitely saw some very big explosions throughout the film. Whether it was flipping cars or falling off cliffs, the stunt actors here had their work cut out for them, and luckily it all came across great on-screen.

In the end, I must say that it was well worth the wait and should be a very pleasing entry in the series for the fans. Leading up to it, I wasn’t quite sure what they were going to give us, but what we ultimately got exceeded my expectations, and brings everything full circle, making this quite the fun little trilogy. Death Race: Inferno deserves its place in the rebooted Death Race franchise, and hopefully eventually in my BluRay collection.

10/10  rooms in the Psych Ward

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