Crank

The movie had my attention from the first moment, how it started and how the movie continued having my attention and forcing me to focus without passing a scene, a great acting from Jason Statham.

Such good work at all.

Wow, this is surprisingly excellent. I mean, it's crap, but it's good crap, and that's worth a lot. The premise is basically Speed meets D.O.A. (the 1950 movie starring Edward O'Brien). Jason Statham (of the Transporter movies) is a hit-man who has a lethal Chinese poison coursing through his veins. If he slows down, if his adrenaline level drops, he drops dead. In his last moments, he rushes to find his killer and others responsible, snatching as many energy drinks and drugs as he can get his hands on along the way. This is some fun stuff, and hilarious, too. The editing is the MTV-style of many modern action movies, so avoid it if you can't stand that. I hope the directors, who also wrote the script, succeed even more so in the future.

If ever a movie was made to get one's heart pumping, Crank is it. It takes a marginally believable and undeniably awesome premise, adds one of the brightest up-and-coming action stars around, stirs in some new ingredients that the genre hasn't really seen before, and bakes until the final product rises beyond all expectations. The catch phrase "a thrill a minute" doesn't really go the distance to describe how ridiculously action packed this film is. A thrill every ten to fifteen seconds is more like it. First time directors Mark Nedveldine and Brian Taylor relentlessly bash you over the head with the action hammer. Their cinematography is manic and the style is reminiscent of that used by Tony Scott in Domino. It fits the pace of the film quite well.

Jason Statham delivers to audiences the only thing he knows how to deliver, and that is pure, distilled ass kicking. That is his job, and he is very, very good at it. Make no mistake, the film is very strongly 'R' rated. There is a bounty of flesh, and a strong smattering of violence, and drug use. Don't be thrown off by Amy Smart's name on the poster. Even though she does a fine job as Statham's on screen girlfriend Eve, hers (and every other) part takes a deliberate and distant backseat to Statham's charismatic portrayal of hit-man Chev Chelios. He also manages to wind more than a few threads of pretty solid humor into the performance. All in all, its Statham's most impressive job in a leading role yet.

In a nutshell the plot revolves around Chev Chelios, poisoned by his employer after a hit went sour with a synthetic Chinese compound that blocks his adrenaline receptors. The only way for him to stay alive is to get pumped up and stay pumped up. Anything he can get his hands on to raise his adrenaline is fair game, from drugs to energy drinks to raunchy public sex and more as he tears a path of carnage and mayhem through the streets of L.A. in search of the man who tried to kill him.

Crank is everything you could feasibly ask it to be and more. The filmmakers take an iffy premise, work their magic (read 'good casting and direction') on it, and produce reel after reel of pure adrenaline on film. It packs over the top action in with incredible stunts, clever and biting humor, a decent story and some above average acting. It's one of the most entertaining films of the year and may well be a career highlight for Statham. It's one of those films that you'll definitely want to go see with a bunch of the guys. What it lacks in depth, it makes up for in pure fun and distilled manliness. A high 8 out of 10.

This is my first review and I've been reluctant to write one because I don't really think anyone will read it... but here it goes.

Crank is fun, really fun. In the way of Snatch and Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels (kind of) it's got its violence and action tossed into a mountain of humor. The writers (and directors) took these three things, tossed them into a movie blender, put the blender on puree, and came out with this movie.

The directors (and writers) did some visually awesome things with this film. People on the other side of phone calls appear on walls, rear-view mirrors, and other things. Random words from a person's dialogue appear on screen along with their part of speech in parenthesis afterwards (ep-i-neph-rine (n), man). This visual style I have declared... accidytrip-o-vision.

Other movies with accidytrip-o-vision: Easy Rider and A Scanner Darkly.

In conclusion, Crank is an action-filled, blood encrusted, comedy haywire, accidytrip-o-vision, adrenaline-pumping achievement.

Kudos to Statham and the rest of the team for the new bible of popcorn flicks.

A feature film that puts Jason Statham in the front is more or less destined to be action-packed from the beginning to the end and Crank is not an exception. At first glance the duration of 1h30min might seem as pretty standard but I experienced the film to be somewhat longer due to its high pace. Trust me, 1h30min of this roller-coaster adrenaline chase is enough and I do not mean it in a negative way - I would not like to see the flick shorter nor any longer as it is perfect as it is! Anyone who has grown a predilection for Statham's acting ought to see this one. I can imagine that fans of films such as Snatch and Lock Stock And Two Smoking Barrels will love this one. Noteworthy is that I perceived the pace of Crank to be somewhat higher than the pace of the other films previously mentioned. Crank brings about violence, drugs, sex and even more violence, so sensitive viewers may want to take caution. Crank is not just another film depicting fast-cut scenes of violence, however, and I believe it as a lot more to offer the cinema-goers than just stimulating their thirst for violence. The film is very original indeed and it is a good piece of contemporary challenging film since it is not flirting with all the conventions of the genre, I believe.

7/10 - well worth a try!