Death Race 3 Inferno Review

TITLE: Death Race Inferno

DIRECTOR: Roel Reiné

STAR: Luke Goss, Danny Trejo, Ving Rhames

PUBLISHER: Universal

RATING: R, Unrated

GENRE: Action

I’ll get my biases out in the open right away. I loved the 2008 release of Death Race that was directed by Paul W.S. Anderson. It was a movie specifically made for my tastes. It had guns, cars, plenty of action, and a hero I could actually root for. The fact that it reminded me of Twisted Metal; a game I hold close to my childhood instantly sealed the deal when the original trailer came out and luckily the film did not disappoint. Then the 2010 prequel came out falling a bit behind in terms of story quality. Now in 2013 the third installment has been released to continue the adventures of the original Frankenstein and his crew as they struggle to survive in the world’s most popular blood sport. But will this be a high octane thrill ride like the first film, or end up as a watered down mess leaving its audience stranded and wanting more?

Despite being another low budget direct to home video release, the film starts off on the right foot by having the entire cast from the prequel return. Luke Goss reprises his role as Carl Lucas, aka Frankenstein accompanied by his mechanic Goldberg played by Danny Trejo.  Fred Koehler, (Lists) and Mortal Kombat hero Robin Shou, (14k) also return for the third time adding their unique personalities to the film and making everything feel canon in terms of story.

After extensive surgery Lucas is back in the game.

Inferno goes as follows. Death Race has become extremely popular thanks to Frankenstein’s celebrity status and as a result the sport falls victim to a corporate takeover. With Death Race no longer under state control and in private hands, new owner Niles York, played by Dougray Scott, plans to franchise the sport by setting up tracks across the globe and hopes to bank in on Frankenstein’s fan base. However, with Lucas just one win away from claiming his freedom, York blackmails Lucas to keep losing races in order to keep his famed star in the spotlight and his viewers interested. Determined to have his freedom though, Lucas reluctantly plays along while conjuring up a plan to escape York’s corporate clutches at the same time.

The story is just what you expect from the last two films with just one major element change. Where the last two films took place on a track within the confines of prison walls, Inferno throws its contestants into the vast deserts of South Africa. As a result, the hero mustang and street cars are replaced by Baja rated trucks and SUVs equipped with the usual artillery. The new environment instantly gives Inferno a Mad Max feel with characters seen wearing helmets, spikes, and other articles of clothing suited to combat the harsh elements around them. That is as long as you’re not a hot female who are apparently required to wear tight revealing outfits everywhere they go. Death Race has always exploited their female characters as blatant eye candy and here it’s no different. One could argue that this film takes it to even more ridiculous levels that are borderline insulting to the fairer sex so feminists out there take caution when watching.

 Frankenstein’s ride is still a mustang....ish

For the most part the characters in Inferno remain interesting but the biggest flaws have to the antagonists; especially York, who is evil on a cartoonish level. Him and his partners are evil just for the sake of being evil and have no depth in personality right from the moment they are introduced. York is practically granted infinite power and is even allowed to endanger lives of innocent civilians on live TV without fear of starting an international incident. While the Lucas and his supporters too show depths as shallow as the giant puddle in Frankenstein’s cell, they at least stick with notes that make them likable. Chemistry between characters does seem forced more often than natural at times but it never fully distracts from the overall story or keeps the viewer from focusing on whatever situation is currently happening. The dialog won’t be winning any awards, but it is easy to follow and doesn’t demand the total attention of the viewer which is great for this type of movie.

Goldberg and Lists do have some memorable moments together.

Production wise, Inferno maintains a decent budget for a DVD release keeping the overall look up to par with the last two films but the new desert locations do make it obvious that the makers had a smaller wallet this time around. It’s not so small though that filmmakers had to rely on bad cgi outside of missile fire thankfully and mostly stuck with practical effects. Sound effects and music scores keeps up with the franchise’s usual standards with the use of some well fitted classic road song covers like that of Radar Love.

Jeep has really outdone themselves with their latest Call of Duty Edition Wranglers.

It cannot be denied that the film does have its problems. While the film overcomes most plot holes that would allow any contestants from simply escaping into the desert, it’s not as tight as it could’ve been. Furthermore some rules concerning the weapons fail safe activation systems aren’t strictly followed. Random vehicles and locations blow up without logical reasons from time to time and editing can be very clunky at moments. There’s one scene where a helicopter broadcasting the race can’t decide if it’s directly above the action or not.

Liu Kang's martial arts provide little help in the driving realm.

Overall Inferno is way better than it ever deserved to be considering it’s the second home release of the franchise. Anyone could’ve just as easily cranked out a dull product and simply slapped the Death Race name on it to make a quick profit but thankfully that wasn’t the case. Inferno tells an entertaining, easy to follow tale. It flows steadily; it resolves many unanswered questions; and it wraps up nicely without raising new ones. If no more sequels were made after this, I’d feel perfectly satisfied. Paul Anderson and Roel Reiné helped create an entertaining trilogy that stayed consistent in its style storytelling and it’s good to see that exceptional care was put into this third installment. If you’re a fan of the original 2008 release or just want a simple popcorn film that has a lot of action and requires very little thinking, this is a must see. I can only wish that all direct to DVD releases were this good.       

Ryan Pierce

Rating: 3 out of 5