Crank 2 ramps up the voltage và the violence in a sequel that leaves Jason Statham fanatic Duncan simply stunned...
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Imagine, if you will, the sight of a man; he’s pale, sweaty, shaking và has an anxious look about him that implies he’s had an overdose of adrenaline và caffeine. He’s not Chev Chelios from the first Crank movie, but me, turning up for a screening of Crank: High Voltage. I’m a big fan of method audience participation, but even I didn’t intend to lớn replicate the Chelios look (minus the physique) quite so accurately, but having missed my intended train when it left the station early và resorting to lớn plan B (panic), I then proceeded to drink Redbull, the drink of choice from Crank, in order khổng lồ counteract the tiredness from the previous nights’ double dose of Statham (a thoroughly recommendable pairing of Cellular & Crank, with added beer và Chinese food). Such was my excitement at finally getting a new Crank fix after waiting for two & half years, that I felt it necessary lớn make celebratory preparations in honour of the new king of kích hoạt (see Simon’s article here for more on our crowning).
Jason Statham’s movie franchises have become increasingly more important khổng lồ me over the last few years, providing a much needed và reliable source of pure action movie entertainment, especially in a time where a large number of the films I’ve seen seem khổng lồ be offensively bland. Yet the aspect of his films that surprises me most, is that he is the sole box office draw and with no other names lớn fall back on, Statham’s brand of cinematic violence has led to lớn a string of profitable big screen releases, with Crank: High Voltage standing next in line for those of us who simply love seeing him tear up the screen.
So, as I sit here anxiously waiting for the lights khổng lồ go down, filled with a cấp độ of expectation và excitement that most people reserve for much bigger sequels, I’m frantically scribbling out the start of this review before the combination of High Voltage, Statham & Redbull take hold và what follows turns out to be an unintelligible mess. Also know that if it all proves too much, I’d really appreciate some letters when I’ve been locked up.
96 minutes later…
The words… I can’t find them… my brain has been fried khổng lồ a crisp with the insane overload that is Crank: High Voltage. I just can’t think of the right way khổng lồ describe what I’ve just seen. I really didn’t think it was possible to lớn up the ante from the first Crank, already so crazily over the top, yet somehow C: HV succeeded và my poor, happy head is spinning. Never before have I seen such a true sequel, in that it sticks lớn the traditional formula of being essentially the same film again, with an increase of sex, violence and profanity, but my god, what an increase.
C: HV is so very, very obscene that its main strength is likely khổng lồ also be its undoing. I never thought I’d say this about the film but it almost asks too much of its audience, as it pushes the limits of taste more than any other mainstream movie I can think of, & is likely lớn leave people either revelling or reviled. I survived the sensory onslaught & am still keen for more, but then again I’m not a terribly good marker for good taste & decency when it comes to lớn cinema. Take what you’ve already seen in Crank & then use these examples lớn decide for yourself if High Voltage is going to appeal khổng lồ you:
Within minutes the film has already exploded into a mass of naked women & violence, only now every gun shot wound seems much more graphic & before you can catch your breath, Statham’s character, Chelios, who was never much of a charmer, has oiled up the end of a shotgun và rammed it into a bad guys’ orifice (the same orifice where the sun is unlikely to shine) in order to lớn extract information. Now that’s a high point for the Crank scale of decency.
Blood và gore fill the screen with the same kind of gusto which is normally reserved for hardcore horror films: organs và limbs are sliced and smashed with stomach turning vigour, while Chelios and his surrounding company of miscreants turn the air bright blue. If you thought the language in Crank was bad, High Voltage is likely lớn be a hard movie lớn beat in its swear words lớn dialogue ratio, with Statham spitting out the infamous c-word more times than I’ve ever heard before, which is a bit of a shame after its fine comical use in Crank when it was unexpected.
Continuing with its xanh theme, there is another ‘necessary’ sex scene involving Amy Smart’s character, this time with more nudity, more spectators and veers into the domain of pornography so closely that the blurry blocks of censorship make an unexpected appearance, though whether this was at the censors’ request, a use of the Crank movies affinity for visual pop references, or just khổng lồ hide the more intimate biological workings of the actors, is difficult lớn know.
Most of the above, though, kept me laughing solidly, as the dark sense of comic fun kept me thoroughly entertained, but where C: HV misfired for me was when its attempts to be shocking fell into the trap of being so puerile they felt lazy, which most of the movie avoided with its constant strive lớn find ingenious ways for Chelios to lớn keep his electric heart beating. Unoriginal clichés rear their ugly head, such as the old woman who uses obscene language, Bai Ling’s “Love you long time!” schtick & one character’s ‘full body toàn thân tourettes’, which added nothing but a convenient problem at obvious points in the film, but failed lớn be funny in any way.
Criticising the Crank movies for such trivialities as dialogue, plot or gratuitous sex and violence is not what really matters, though. What matters is how well Statham tears up the screen & in that respect he is spectacular. I can imagine few actors that would throw themselves so wholeheartedly (no pun intended) into such an insane film, managing lớn convince us that he could actually connect himself to a oto battery, via jump leads to lớn his tongue & nipple và then run a couple of miles without blinking.
Mention should also go lớn the score by Mike Patton, who’s known mostly for being the front man of the fantastic (and recently re-formed) band Faith No More, though here his đầu ra is more in the surreal & eclectic vein of his other music ventures such as Mr Bungle & Fantomas. At times Patton’s music makes the film feel lượt thích more of a contemporary western than a standard kích hoạt flick and the pairing of him to lớn C: HV makes perfect sense as the film becomes increasingly removed from any sense of reality (one fight scene has khổng lồ be seen to be believed as things suddenly become an homage to Godzilla).
I’d lượt thích to think of myself as more prepared than most for the psychosis of Crank: High Voltage, but even my desensitised brain triggered my jaw to drop at times, so I really vì chưng wonder what impact it’ll have on an unsuspecting general public. Yet despite my love for its unrestrained depravity, it still suffered from the same problem as the first, in that it’s mostly fantastic fun but loses slight focus & momentum in its last act, a trait which is most likely unavoidable as I doubt the human brain is capable of dealing with such a massive visual & aural bombardment, even with its slim running time.
Crank 3 is almost certain lớn happen, especially as no one really expected a franchise to spawn after the end of number one, but with Chelios’ comic book ability to lớn defy the laws of biology & keep coming back for more, I can’t see anything stopping him until the writers run out of body parts lớn use. I, for one, will still be waiting with xuất hiện arms, but am utterly at a loss as khổng lồ how the vile spectacle of High Voltage can be surpassed without being banned. That said, I thought the same thing about the first one.
