Death Race 3 Inferno Review

I ate the worst burrito in the world today, and then fell asleep. When I woke up, I had a headache and one thing on my mind, Death Race 3. This movie is the third of the sequels that came through with the remake featuring Jason Statham, only this is straight to video and stars Danny Trejo, and Luke Goss. This time around the formula is similar, but has been thrown into a washing machine, because you’re going to find it to either be very boring, or quite fascinating towards the end. I found it tedious to start, but then things really took a turn for the better, and this started to make a lot more sense.

The movie centers on Luke and his pit crew getting sent to South Africa to start racing for a new prison warden. The warden is taking things international, and he’s throwing out the old policy of freedom after winning 5 times. Frankenstein is on the verge of winning big, but now he’s stuck trying to fight back and he’s not going to get any leverage. Meanwhile, he reveals to his crew that the person under the mask is none other than Carl Lucas aka Luke. The gang hates him, but oh well, he then reveals the real reason they are there.

As you expected, there is some racing here. However, the Ford Mustang is gone. Goodbye mustang and hello some dune boogie piece of crap. The rest of the cars are all retrofitted for the sands and dunes of this desert prison area. I don’t like it, but then again, it works for what it is. As the movie progresses, the teams race and things go in order as you would expect. There are minor details here and there that makes this more of a combat movie, then things explode into a frenzy towards the end of the film.

In the third act you start to realize that Frankenstein is not going to win, he has other plans. With a stroke of genius, or perhaps luck, this whole things blows up in the favor of Frankenstein when he and his crew escape the prison with the help of an insider and a new guy changes places with him. This is very much like the first movie, and it goes in line with the notion that the monster can be replaced by any idiot. As you start to wonder why this is all going down the way it is, you’re given the full reveal. The movie bounces back to where Lucas was giving away his “truth” and you realize this was the plan all along.

Death Race 3 Inferno is not a great movie. However, if you’ve invested in the first two, you might as well finish this one. I found it to be slow at first, but there’s enough action and a good fourth act to really get into it. I actually didn’t hate it that much, and that’s saying a lot. Tanit Phoenix is hot, and waiting for a nip slip is about as crazy as you’re going to get here. I liked the grindhouse style, and I do appreciate the continuity, but overall, this is not as good as the first, and that’s not exactly “Citizen Kane” or anything. Overall, if you’re going to get this, get it as part of the Death Race Trilogy or don’t watch it. Then again, buy something, I need the money, and you need to add another dvd to your collection, so how about it?

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