Action/Thriller. Jason Statham, Joan Allen, Tyrese Gibson, Ian McShane, Natalie Martinez, Max Ryan, Justin Mader, Robert LaSardo, Robin Shou, Frederick Koehler, Jacob Vargas, Jason Clarke. Director: Paul WS Anderson.

LOOSELY based on the 1975 cult favourite Death Race 2000, Paul WS Anderson’s follow-up to Alien Vs Predator is a turbo-charged action-thriller set in 2012, when reality programmes continue to dominate television and the Internet.

Square-jawed hard-man Jason Statham is perfectly cast as the hero of the hour, a three-time speedway champion with a need for speed and an aversion to any emotion.

Doting family man Jensen Ames (Statham) is framed for the slaying of his wife Suzy (Stephens) and ends up in Terminal Island maximum-security prison, run by no-nonsense warden Hennessy (Allen).

She presides over Death Race, a three-day showdown. Vehicles are equipped with shields and weapons, including machine guns and cannons, which are activated by driving over lit squares dotted around the lap.

Hennessy offers Ames his freedom if he agrees to race as the mythical masked driver Frankenstein against Machine Gun Joe (Gibson), Pachenko (Ryan), Travis Colt (Mader), Grimm (LaSardo) and 14K (Shou).

However, Hennessy doesn’t intend to play fair.

Death Race takes a ghoulish delight in despatching its victims. This is a non-stop assault on the senses, whether it be the deafening soundtrack, Niven Howie’s hyperactive editing or Anderson’s insatiable hunger for crash-bang-wallop destruction.