“Death Race” screenwriter and director Paul W. S. Anderson took only inspiration from the 1975 “Death Race 2000” movie. Though the new film bears the same name, involves car racing and death as a national past-time, and uses some of the earlier film’s character names, little else is the same. And I’m going to say that’s a good thing, since the original was about running down pedestrians for points.

This new version sets the race in prison: Privately owned prisons have risen to take care of the overabundance of criminals in the wake of America’s economic collapse. One prison, Terminal Island, created Death Race to earn more money by streaming live video on the Internet and charging viewers.

Enter Jensen Ames (Jason Statham), a man framed for the murder of his wife, sent to Terminal Island and selected by the warden (Joan Allen) to race.

As a prison movie, there is no lack of bad guys. And in the tradition of movies such as “The Shawshank Redemption” and “Brubaker,” the worst of the bad guys are the ones running the place: in this case, the warden and her top guard, Ulrich (Jason Clarke).

In a new twist, it isn’t merely personal power and personal greed that motivate the warden — it’s corporate greed; it’s ratings. The warden wants to make sure that the viewers keep tuning in.

Anderson did a good job at the beginning of the film in creating a sense of the injustice of the new prison system. Seeing the unwarranted abuses by the guards, and the apparent pleasure they take in inflicting them, adds to the sympathy the audience feels for Ames.

While the recent film “Wanted” was fun and exciting because of the amazing, but unrealistic, tricks and feats, “Death Race” is exciting because of the pure adrenaline rush, as heavily armored and armed cars chase each other around a booby-trapped track.

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Though I’m sure special-effects work was done, the race scenes offer no sense of computer graphic intervention. It all appears to have been done by stuntmen and old-fashioned staging. This is rather refreshing in an age of computer-dominated effects, and adds a more visceral feel to the scenes.

Statham’s Ames is stoic in the face of injustice. He defends himself. He wants to take a principled stance and not race, but when given the proper incentive, he is rational enough to accept, but forward-thinking enough to be looking for every advantage to beat the system.

Though I’ve heard him referred to as the British Bruce Willis, Statham does not evince Willis’ irreverent sense of humor. Statham plays Ames as a serious man, focused and jaded by his experiences. But he’s not without heart, either. Statham is able to project through the stoicism a sense that Ames is a good man, caring, wanting to do the right things.

The supporting cast is strong. Though many characters are stereotypes, they aren’t quite flat.

Allen makes good use of her ability for playing uptight women and channels it into a hardened, bottom-line driven warden who can instill fear in even murderers and psychopaths.

Fellow inmate and racer, Machine Gun Joe, is played with a certain subtly by Tyrese Gibson. Joe is tough — marking his own skin for every kill he makes — but he doesn’t seem to engage in senseless violence. There is little sense that he feels the need to put on an act of bravado just to prove how tough he is.

The leader of a neo-Nazi group, Max Ryan’s Pachenko has a bit more of the renegade to him. Someone who does feel he needs to constantly prove his superiority while at the same time projecting a cocky self-confidence. He’s much easier to hate than Joe.

The main weakness of the film is its overall lack of subtlety. It is all too easy to guess why Ames was framed. This doesn’t detract too much from a first viewing, but it does make rewatching the film less interesting because there are no missed clues to pick up on.

While graphic in its violence, there is a fairly good balance between implied violence and on-screen violence. It’s just a shame that the most gruesome scene is shown multiple times — once was definitely enough.

For an action movie, this one does its job well. A sympathetic main character, believable action sequences, good build up of tension and adrenaline, and side characters that, while stereotypes, are still enjoyable to watch.

(Three and a half stars out of five.)

Amanda Brooks can be reached at 737-1057 or abrooks@lompocrecord.com.