Crank

Starring: Jason Statham, Amy Smart, Dwight Yoakam
Directed by: Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller
2006

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A man (Jason Statham) has been poisoned with a Chinese toxin. The only way to stay alive is to keep his adrenaline level up long enough to track down the people who poisoned him and get his revenge.

Review:

Tim: This took an interesting concept for an action movie—it is pretty much Speed, but the bus is Jason Statham’s body. He has to keep his adrenaline level up, or he will die. Now, conveniently, this allows us to watch as he performs a variety of over-the-top stunts. Fans of Jason Statham action movies (most notably The Transporter and Transporter 2 will be excited to see Statham going full blast all the time. However, the character he plays here is a far cry from the one in those superior action movies.

Action fans will at least be mildly interested in the action sequences. There’s quite a few that are just so-so, but there’s a few that will pique your interest. There are quite a few downsides, mostly notably the utterly ridiculous nature of the entire movie. There’s also a controversial scene with Amy Smart that suggests some inherently awful attitudes about women, which actually detracts from the movie’s effectiveness.

In the end, Crank works hard to offer some impressive action, but it does far too many things wrong to be very good. Action junkies will certainly appreciate the fix, but to the casual moviegoer, there’s much more not to like here than there is to like. You might be entertained, but I doubt you will be very impressed.



Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 5.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Transporter, The Transporter 2