Like Speed Without the Bus
Crank Can't Slow Down

When I saw the previews for Crank, I immediately thought that it sounded familiar. A man, injected with a drug that is quickly killing him, must keep his adrenaline pumping or his heart will slow down and die. Throw Sandra Bullock on his back and you've got a remake of Speed. Nevertheless, I decided to throw caution to the wind and see whether it could keep up the action while still being believable.

Crank
Hit man Chev Chelios (Jason Statham) has to keep his adrenaline pumping or he will die in the new action movie Crank. (Lionsgate, 2006)
Directed by: Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor
Written by: Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor
Starring: Jason Statham, Amy Smart, Jose Pablo Cantillo, Dwight Yoakam and Carlos Sanz

Rated R (for strong violence, pervasive language, sexuality, nudity and drug use)
Running time: 87 min.

FilmGuru's Rating : 6 out of 10.

Chev Chelios (Jason Statham) is a hit man who just woke up from a bad night. Ambushed by a mobster named Verona (Jose Pablo Cantillo), Chev has been injected with a "Beijing cocktail" that will kill him in the next hour. His dying wish is to take Verona out with him, but time is short and he doesn't know where to find the well-protected man.

Racing around the city, Chev manages to phone his doctor (Dwight Yoakam). Doc Miles advises him to keep his adrenaline pumping to flush the cocktail from his system. It's a stopgap measure at best, because no one can keep moving like that for long. But Chev's going to try. For the next hour it's all about violence, drugs, and sex -- anything that will keep his heart beating faster.

The film becomes a race against time, but it's also a chase for Chev as he chases Verona and the police chase him. He uses everything from drugs to energy drinks to keep his adrenaline up, including starting fights, shocking his heart, and having sex with his girlfriend, Eve (Amy Smart), on the streets of Chinatown.

Using fast cuts and innovative editing, directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor bring the audience into the film. The directors (both former commercial directors), surround the audience with non-stop action. Taylor noted, "Crank is the ultimate A.D.D. movie. It's a crazy film." True, it's a wild ride that will likely appeal to the target audience. But the quick edits and hard rock music may turn off a mainstream audience expecting an ordinary action movie.

There are a number of moments in Crank that strike a humorous chord. While it is by no means a comedy, it has flashes of humor when Chev's world begins to slow down (as it usually does when we are in a hurry). An L.A. traffic jam takes on comic proportions. When Eve asks him to stop and reset the clock on her microwave, the situation becomes almost laughable.

For an over-the-top action movie, Crank is what it is. It doesn't try to be an artistic film filled with reflection. It doesn't even try to tell a believable story. It focuses on how the story is told, and it does an excellent job of giving audiences an hour and a half adrenaline rush.