This loose remake of 1975 cult classic Death Race 2000 has a fatal flaw: thanks to its 18A rating, the only people who’d enjoy the videogame gore — preteen and teen boys — won’t be able to see it without mom or dad holding their hand.

Racing past that red tape for a bigger audience would’ve required director Paul W.S. Anderson to loose such moments as a guy getting sideswiped by a car or a girl getting butchered into a slab of packaged ground beef, which happen along the way as our tough-but-honest hero (Jason Statham) is framed for murder and blackmailed into racing in the future’s most fucked-up reality-TV show.

The biggest distraction is how the hell they got three-time Oscar nominee Joan Allen to sign up for this gumbo? Statham fits his role fine, but casting Allen as his emotionless puppet master is a head-scratcher.

Needless to say, if you ain’t into Twisted Metal or Grand Theft Auto, you ain’t into this.

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