Still, the screenplay is packed with violent incident, which is always good, and I like the way the smaller budget is disguised by having combatant vs. Each has about five minutes screen time tops. The two big names present in the cast, Sean Bean and Ving Rhames, are particularly wasted, given roles which require them to sit around and do absolutely nothing else. Lauren Cohan fares little better as an overly-obvious arrogant journalist type, while Danny Trejo has virtually nothing to do in the stock role of car mechanic. Luke Goss is nothing more than a dome-headed dunderhead, an obvious stand-in for Statham but one that lacks that actor's trademark intensity and scowl.
To be sure, this is far from a great film and it falls down particularly in regard to the actors, all of whom are ill-serviced by their parts. For DEATH RACE 2 captives the vibrant, adrenaline-fuelled spirit of the first film and Dutch director Roel Reine, himself a veteran of a dozen B-movies, proves to be a better director than Paul W. I'd even go so far as to say this is as much fun as the first film, although it has only a fraction of the budget and only one returning cast member, as far as I can tell. DEATH RACE 2 is a surprisingly entertaining little straight-to-video sequel to the Jason Statham starrer, itself a remake of a Roger Corman cult classic of the 1970s.