Movie Review: Crank

 

[xrr rating=3.5/5]

Crank

2006, 87mins, R

Director (s): Brian Taylor, Mark Neveldine

Writer (s): Brian Taylor, Mark Neveldine

Cast includes: Jason Statham, Amy Smart, Efren Ramirez, Jose Pablo Cantillo, Dwight Yoakam, Carlos Sanz,

Release Date: 1^st September 2006

 

I missed “Crank” on its initial run in theaters back in 2006 and as the years have passed by failed to play catch-up, the film received decent reviews but overall it seemed like a flick that was affordable to skip when it arrived on disc. Now with the release of its sequel mere days away it seemed like a befitting time to catch the movie and I’m glad I did. “Crank” is a cocktail of extreme violence, dark humor and rampant pacing, or basically every cinematic convention that popcorn was designed to compliment. There is absolutely no depth to this wham bam action fest but when it’s presented on such rollicking and unapologetically crazy terms, who really cares?

The plot is breathtakingly simple. Chev Chelios (Jason Statham) a hired hand in assassination has been poisoned by a complex Asian toxin, and by right should have only hours to live. The mobsters responsible leave him a DVD explaining his condition and take great delight in revealing that death waits later that day, the assassin having been played at his own game. There is however a catch, as long as Chev can keep his adrenaline high he can survive indefinitely. So armed with this info, a mighty haul of energy drinks, a horny girlfriend (Amy Smart) and a penchant for carnage Chev begins a mission to get back at the crooks that will inevitably at some point in the coming hours end his life. All it takes is for Chev to stop moving or tire out, and he’s finished.

In the lead role Statham is perfect, “Crank” requires a larger than life actor to fit in its cartoony world and the tough Englishmen fits the bill wonderfully.  It’s not a role that requires much in the way of emotionally resonant acting but it does require someone who can quip, jump, punch and shoot his way through a selection of utterly ridiculous scenes without ever cracking a smirk. Statham does this and more, never once suggesting to the audience that the character see’s his situation as anything other than deadly serious, yet his willingness to partake in the delightfully absurd carnage also reveals as a performer he’s in on the batshit concept.  No other role really means anything, the bad guys are cut outs for Chev to blow away, Amy Smart is cute and naïve as his loving girl and Efren Ramirez pops up as a gay source of Intel and help. It’s never anything other than Statham’s show, which is totally fine given the way Neveldine and Taylor shoot the story.

The action rides completely on the directorial team’s willingness to make it as crazy and of the rails as possible, the duo has put their stock in creativity rather than bombastic CGI.  The filmmakers waste little of their linear runtime on cooking up mass amounts of exposition or character development, instead asking you to trust in them in turn for quite a caboodle of excitement. Trust me, if you can enter into that deal “Crank” is a worthwhile action flick, because the Taylor and Neveldine really hold up their end of the bargain.

The film has a dark sense of comedic aspiration filtered in amongst its moments of bloody violence and mass evisceration, Chev might never be smiling but you can guarantee large quantities of the audience will be. The dialogue is definitely sub Tarantino but along with the kinetic and effective action you’ll also be treated to the sight of Statham holding up a convenience store for Red Bull and sweets. Or even better him and Amy Smart getting it on in the middle of Chinatown. Tell me you aren’t giggling already.

I will happily sit down and endorse a film as brazenly off the wall as “Crank” because frankly the action genre is in dire need of fresh spins and genuinely enjoyable set-pieces. “Crank” delivers both in a romp that never stops to allow the audience to ask, what the fuck? That’s what makes it such a beautiful thing.