Jason Statham portrays a former race-car driver who has been framed in his wife's murder. (Photo provided by Universal Pictures)

Stop me if you've heard this one before: Jason Statham plays a guy chased by a bunch of bad guys, and fights them off both in a car and out.

OK, so "Death Race" doesn't exactly mark the start of the introspective period in Statham's career, but it's occasionally fun.

The film, a remake of a 1975 Roger Corman film (that starred David Carradine and Sylvester Stallone), is set in 2012, a frighteningly close year, given the societal changes that have taken place: The American economy has collapsed, unemployment is skyrocketing and corporations have taken over the prison system.

A side effect of that last bit, of course, is Death Race, which is not exactly designed to build good sportsmanship skills, as you may have guessed.

The participants are all inmates, and the goal is simple: Win five races and you go free. Losing often means death. And it's all shown on TV, for audiences to enjoy.

Their vehicles aren't stock, either: armor, machine guns, napalm and missiles serve as weapons and defensive tools.

Statham's character, a former race-car driver, is set up for his wife's murder and thrown in the slam.

He's takes the role of the legendary masked driver called Frankenstein, killed in the previous race, one victory from freedom.

Playing the evil, ratings-obsessed warden is Joan Allen, who looks a little out of place but holds her own playing a somewhat less morally conflicted version of her character from the "Bourne" movies.

Rounding out the cast are the usual suspects, including Tyrese Gibson, who plays Frankenstein's rival, Ian McShane (HBO's "Deadwood") as Statham's crew chief and Natalie Martinez as the eye candy/love interest.

So with the setup out of the way, we're free to enjoy the carnage, impalings, high-caliber gunshot wounds, car crashes and explosions.

In other words, you're not going to find anything original, but it'll get your blood pumping for about an hour and a half, and then disappear, as movies of this ilk tend to do.

Death Race

Rating: Two and a half stars (out of five).

In a word: Flavorless.

Rated: R.

Starring: Jason Statham, Joan Allen, Tyrese Gibson, Ian McShane.

Director: Paul W.S. Anderson.