A sequel to Roger Corman’s cult fave Death Race 2000 arrived this year and made it to Netflix right away. It’s definitely a low-budget operation because the only stars in it are Malcolm McDowell as the Chairman of the United Corporations of America and the dude who played Slade on Arrow.
The same dark humor remains but it has been updated. One driver is Rap artist Minerva Jefferson, another is the twisted Jesus freak Tammy and yet one more is testing out a self-driving race car. The main rivalry though is between Frankenstein and Perfectus, who claims to be the incarnation of perfection.
There’s new touches 2050 borrows from Speed Racer (the car designs); The Hunger Games (the ongoing commentary, dress and reporters); Idiocracy (the high unemployment and many are pretty dumb); and corporate dystopia (take your pick). I liked the new state names in the UCA: the Data Mines, Zuckerbergia and Diaperlandia.
Is it deep or clever? Not really. It’s just as shallow as the original but has more political overtones and easy jokes. I still enjoyed it since it had a heavy dose of Idiocracy and given today’s mental climate, we may not be too far away of such blood sport. Look at how crazy people are for UFC.