Pulpy, dark and violent, Death Race is like Mad Max meets The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. Based on David Carradine’s cult classic, Death Race 2000, writer/director Paul W.S. Anderson, who brought us Resident Evil and AVP: Alien vs. Predator, sets the film in 2012.

In just four short years, the world has fallen into chaos after an economic implosion. The world has a newfound voyeuristic bloodlust catered to by a phenomenally popular sport: the Death Race, a three-day event watched PPV-style where inmates battle to the death for the chance to win their freedom.

Framed for a crime he didn’t commit, ex-race car driver Jensen Ames (the always entertaining and easy on the eyes Jason Statham) is forced by the warden of a notorious prison (Joan Allen) to compete in the bloodsport. Violent, gory and action-packed, this film isn’t for the squeamish, but those willing to suspend their disbelief and climb on board are in for a wild, torqued up ride.

Grade: B

Death Race is currently in theaters.