One will probably never mistake one of Jason Statham's movies of the last couple of years as anything but a Jason Statham vehicle — it's all about providing enough space for him to flex his muscles and practice his "You looking at me, punk?" frown.

That's not to say that these movies are all scooped out of a particularly vile vat of drivel. Given the right circumstances (a boys' night out), it can be a rather pleasant experience — albeit if taken in sensible amounts.

And thus we get to 'Death Race' — a particularly violent Statham vehicle and a remake of the 1975 movie starring David Carradine and Sylvester Stallone. It's directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, a guy known for favouring movies with messy subject matters (e.g. aliens in 'AVP: Alien vs. Predator', zombies in 'Resident Evil' and creepy space evil in 'Event Horizon').

As nasty as things got in those movies, they're nothing compared to 'Death Race', which seems to revel gleefully in showing the most gruesome ways to die imaginable. Decapitations, bullet-riddled corpses and bodies completely disintegrating are quite prevalent.

In other words, stay clear if gratuitous violence is not for you.

However, for all its gore, 'Death Race' is actually a very entertaining action romp. The races themselves are quite interesting, with ingenuous twists and lots of adrenaline. Of course, there's not much in the line of story — and you can see the plot twist coming from a mile away — but that's not really important in a flick like this.

Suffice to know that it's set in the future, where high crime levels gave rise to prisons that are run as businesses and where justice is quite deadly. Capital punishment takes on a whole new meaning as prisoners race in armoured cars decked out with all sorts of weapons. Reaching the finish line usually means victory — because no one else made it.

Providing some support to Statham's steely frown and flexing biceps are Joan Allen ('The Bourne Ultimatum') as the prison warden, Ian McShane ('We Are Marshall') as the prison old hand, Tyrese Gibson ('2 Fast 2 Furious') as the opponent, and newcomer Natalie Martinez as the mandatory hot female sidekick.

'Death Race' borrows heavily from movies such as 'The Shawshank Redemption', 'The Fast and the Furious' and, of course, every movie Statham played in during the last couple of years, but yet if you can look past these jarring idiocies, it can be a very pleasant DVD evening for the boys.

Extras:

Most movies these days include a "Making of" and commentary by the director and/or producer and 'Death Race' is not about to stand back in that regard. Just to make things sweeter, it also includes a behind the scenes look at the stunts.