Hyper Tension

Fast. Hyper. Action-packed. Drug-induced. Insane. Crank is all these things, and extremely entertaining too. No doubt a movie made just for the guys, it's filled with guns, car chases, sex, random humor, nudity, Amy Smart, Pedro from Napolean Dynamite, sex, nudity, etc. The only thing missing were some hand-to-hand fight scenes that would have made this movie complete. Instead, we do get a nice confrontation where one person is armed with a butcher's knife... but I shan't spoil that one.

But yes, this is a live-action video game on the big-screen. Google Maps zooms into the next location Chev visits and on screen text gives you its name ala a video game's "next level" sequence. Chev's girlfriend thinks he is a video game programmer. The opening titles for "CRANK" are shown in the blocky, pixellated style of a 1980's Atari game. Chev is just trying to get to the boss at the end of the game.

And a tip for those of you yet to see it- STAY THROUGH THE CREDITS. It reinforces everything I just said.

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 movie really is fully packed with action and humor. it has everything that can keep your heart pumping for the whole movie. A hit-man chasing and killing bad guys with guns knives and everything he can find. there is a lot of gunfight and explosives. But the movie really is funny too. the whole crowd in the theater were laughing out loud here at the "avant-première" in Montreal. during the opening sequence, some dizziness begin to overwhelm you because of a shaky and blurred camera but i guess this is exactly what the director was expecting. This "shaky hand" camera effect is reused throughout the movie adding to the perspective and helps one get plunged in the movie. The special effects are mainly car crashes and explosions, but are really well executed and very inventive. And the story, well, the story isn't really what you seek when choosing to go see this kind of movies, but in crank, the storyline is actually pretty good. It could probably be resumed in half a page though :) I would say that it is one of the most balanced humor/action movie i've seen in the past years.

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!

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.