13

I really don't understand how movies like this get made. Step one, half ass a cast together of "big names" and provide a silly premise.

Step two, give someone top billing even though their role is the lesser part of 5 minutes.

Step three, find a rapper that has no talent so that your culturally bereft urban youth have a reason to see the movie.

Step four,rely upon arty cinematography as the culturalification of the movie, legitimizing that its no better than a bottom shelf rental.

Alright, get the idea? movies these days suck, no wonder I won't pay to see one.

"All players, eyes on the bulb, when it lights up you shoot." After a impulse decision to steal a man's identity, Vince (Riley) becomes a contestant in a game of Russian roulette. The winner gets a little more then a million, the loser...dies. Never having seen the original I wasn't sure what to expect, and honestly I watched this because of Statham. The beginning was a little slow, but when the game started it really picked up and was interesting and very disturbing at the same time. Comparing this to "Death Race" I think is acceptable as it involves people doing their best to survive in a grotesque game. While "Death Race" was about cars and you had more of a separation from the killing, this one is in your face. Spin the chamber, cock the hammer, point at someone's head, while someone does the same to you, then shoot. Either you live for next round or you don't. This is a pretty good movie with a good cast (not counting 50 Cent) and is a neat idea. I just think it was missing something. I think it was making you feel for the characters. You just don't seem to care who lives or dies, and that hurts the movie. Overall, an entertaining movie that is worth watching, if for no other reason then morbid curiosity. I give it a B-.

Would I watch again? - I don't think so.

*Also try - Death Race 1 & 2

I enjoyed the premise. I just enjoyed it better in the original. Sadly this is just another bad film in a sea of bad films. The movie is mildly entertaining up until the near end. Then you get a nice feel good movie buzz from how the movie turns. Then they end it in the most nihilistic manner possible. It aggravated me to the point where I shut the film off and came here to rant.

There are plenty of good films out there within the genre to satisfy any fan of these types of movies. So please pass this one up. Its really not worth your time.

Thanks for reading and I hope I helped sway you from this atrocity.

Yes, the video photography was great, wonderful actors were involved in the project however, if your looking for a good movie to watch this is not the best choice. The beginning is slow, the middle is designed to leave the viewer feeling anxious and the end is over quickly and without explanation. The movie left me with a feeling of well- one can only describe it as- emptiness. I was actually quite disappointed I had wasted nearly two hours of my life watching this and whilst I love Jason Statham, he wasn't a central character, but one who I was not fond of by the end. I would strongly recommend people not to watch this unless they like pointless movies with horrible story morals.

Georgian writer Géla Babluani found such success in his film 13 Tzameti n 2005 that he decided to recreated the story, this time placing it in the United States. Co-writing this version with Gregory Pruss is the only aspect of this adaptation he shared. The story is a tough one to watch, not unlike 'Fight Club', but with higher stakes. It share how far gambling men will go to get their thrills, making cock fights seem very tame. The game at hand is based on gathering quasi-desperate men (prisoners, men deeply in debt, criminals who have little to lose, etc), placing them in a room with tee shirts bearing numbers, giving them guns, placing them in a circle, and on the command of the master of ceremonies they are to fire their gun into the head of the person in front of them. A smarmy form of Russian roulette, at first each man's gun has one bullet in the chamber, but as the game goes on more bullets are placed and the game continues until there is one man left alive. The gamblers place bets on the various numbered men and the stakes are high. This process is performed in a isolated meeting space and is closely scrutinized by detectives who seek to uncover the scheme and stop it.

Vince (Sam M. Riley of 'Control' and 'Brighton Rock') is a young electrician whose father has been in an accident resulting in sever injuries that require multiple surgeries. Vince's family must put their house up for sale to pay the expenses unless Vince can find a quicker way to make big money to pay the hospital and surgeons. Quite by accident while doing an electrical job he over hears the house owner discuss a 'job' that promises to pay a lot of money. The man plans on doing the job, receives an envelope with instructions, but then shoots up heroin and dies of an overdose. Vince helps the police who investigate, but before leaving the house Vince takes the envelope that contains instructions and a cell phone and a piece of bark with the number 13 printed on it. Vince follows the instructions and ends up in a complex scheme - the ultimate result of which is the fact that he becomes #13 in the gambling game. Others sequestered for the killer game include Mickey Rourke, Ray Winstone, and among those involved in the offensive debacle are Alexander Skarsgard, Ben Gazzara, and emcee Michael Shannon. The ending of the film is a complete surprise and revealing even part of it would ruin the impact of the film.

This is definitely not a film for the fainthearted. That such a gruesome gambling scheme could exist is terrifying. But the production and the acting and the grisly atmosphere is well worth the moviegoer's attention.

Grady Harp