film review: Crank (2006)

Saw this on DVD the other day in preparation for Crank: High Voltage. Gonna be a short review this one… 😉

Crank is great film. It’s just completely ludicrious. It’s so over the top it’s hilarious. I know I generally stay away from plot details but let’s face it, nobody’s gonna Crank for the plot. Jason Statham play Chev Chelios, a hitman who has been poisoned by his enemy. There’s probably some technical way to describe how the poison is affecting – actually I seem to remember some brief explanation offered by a doctor along the way – but I don’t remember really. All you need to know is that if Chev’s adrenaline level drops then he’ll die. That’s right, it’s like Speed but with our hero’s heart. Cue 84 ridiculous minutes of Jason Statham tearing across town trying to find and kill his nemesis before he kills him – get it?

As an action film it’s brilliant, I can’t remember the last time I had as much fun watching a film… that might be just because I have a poor memory for some things though. Ok, that’s not entirely true. The last time I remember having as much fun was when I saw Snakes on a Plane… a modern classic to be watched by all for years to come. Or at least I hope it will be. Crank deserves that too. I’m glad they’ve made a sequel and from what I’ve gleaned by glancing over Rotten Tomatoes it’s at least as good as the first.

There isn’t really much else to know about the film… if I wanted to nit pick I would point out that the fight sequences are nothing to write home about. This isn’t the Jason Statham from the Transporter films. But that’s ok because it’s not the point of the film… it’s not a beat ’em up, it’s more of a “run around like a maniac” film.

Anyway I wanted to keep this short so I’ll wrap up with this. I highly recommend this film if you like your movies short, snappy, slightly splattery but all fun.

Can’t wait for Crank: High Voltage

9/10