Crank is a deliberately stylized and unrealistic action movie, more concerned with outrageous stunts, flashy editing and smart-ass dialogue than any real movie-making merit. It is not a particularly good film, being alternately too dumb for its own good and too nasty to totally be taken on a good-humoured level. But at the same time, its relentless energy and sheer passion for destruction and mayhem ensures that it lives up to its own unambitious goals, and is an action buffs dream.
Professional hit-man Chev Chelios (Jason Statham) wakes up one morning to find a disc showing him that during the night he has been injected with a deadly poison. The poison acts by choking his supply of adrenalin and he will be dead within an hour unless he can keep his natural adrenalin levels on a permanent high. Chelios sets out to track down those responsible for giving him the poison, namely rival hit-man Verona (Jose Pablo Cantillo) and gangland boss Carlito (Carlos Sanz). In order to stay alive, his day becomes a non-stop adrenalin rush he causes fights, snorts cocaine, drives everywhere at ridiculously high speed (even smashing through a packed shopping mall in his car at one point), carries out a store hold-up, and much more . anything to keep his heart pumping while he seeks vengeance on those that have sentenced him to death. He also attempts to protect his girlfriend Eve (Amy Smart) from the same enemies. A citywide rampage ensues as Chelios fights to stay alive long enough to avenge himself .
Crank is essentially an action remake of the more subtle, mystery-driven thriller D.O.A. The plot is sheer lunacy lacking credibility at all points, though presumably this is intentional. Statham actually does quite well within the restrictions of the role his hero is abrasive, single-minded and sarcastically witty, though at no point does he become even an outline of a believable character. Most of the other actors have thankless roles, especially Smart as the ditsy blonde girlfriend and Cantillo as the scenery-chewing bad guy. The action is quite cleverly edited, with lots of visual and aural tricks, but an air of soullessness hangs over many of the scenes. There's no real thrill and human spark, just spectacle and expensive destruction. Everything is done with a heavy-handed insistence on style over substance, right down to the film's astonishingly absurd climax which features one of the most surreal death scenes ever seen in a movie. On a more positive note, Crank does at least have a pulsating rock soundtrack to propel the proceedings forward and for all its other flaws one could never label it as dull. Definitely one for hardcore genre addicts.
Professional hit-man Chev Chelios (Jason Statham) wakes up one morning to find a disc showing him that during the night he has been injected with a deadly poison. The poison acts by choking his supply of adrenalin and he will be dead within an hour unless he can keep his natural adrenalin levels on a permanent high. Chelios sets out to track down those responsible for giving him the poison, namely rival hit-man Verona (Jose Pablo Cantillo) and gangland boss Carlito (Carlos Sanz). In order to stay alive, his day becomes a non-stop adrenalin rush he causes fights, snorts cocaine, drives everywhere at ridiculously high speed (even smashing through a packed shopping mall in his car at one point), carries out a store hold-up, and much more . anything to keep his heart pumping while he seeks vengeance on those that have sentenced him to death. He also attempts to protect his girlfriend Eve (Amy Smart) from the same enemies. A citywide rampage ensues as Chelios fights to stay alive long enough to avenge himself .
Crank is essentially an action remake of the more subtle, mystery-driven thriller D.O.A. The plot is sheer lunacy lacking credibility at all points, though presumably this is intentional. Statham actually does quite well within the restrictions of the role his hero is abrasive, single-minded and sarcastically witty, though at no point does he become even an outline of a believable character. Most of the other actors have thankless roles, especially Smart as the ditsy blonde girlfriend and Cantillo as the scenery-chewing bad guy. The action is quite cleverly edited, with lots of visual and aural tricks, but an air of soullessness hangs over many of the scenes. There's no real thrill and human spark, just spectacle and expensive destruction. Everything is done with a heavy-handed insistence on style over substance, right down to the film's astonishingly absurd climax which features one of the most surreal death scenes ever seen in a movie. On a more positive note, Crank does at least have a pulsating rock soundtrack to propel the proceedings forward and for all its other flaws one could never label it as dull. Definitely one for hardcore genre addicts.