Crank - Extended Version

A few years back an awful lot of actors were being declared the next big thing in action movies, in 'The Transporter' Jason Statham proved the most promising of them. Statham then showed up in a series of decent (but far from classic) action movies whilst most of his competition crashed and burned, but it wasn't until 'Crank' that he really proved himself to be the next big action hero.Crank follows Statham as the brilliantly named Chev Chelios, a professional hitman injected with a synthetic toxin that's cutting off his adrenaline supply, the upshot of this is that in order to survive he has to keep his adrenaline levels as high as humanly possible. The movie follows the last, frankly mental, day of Chelios's life as he tries to hunt down his killers before the poison kills him. The whole film basically just plays around with the adrenaline-amping concept as Statham goes to increasingly extreme lengths to stay alive.The action sequences, of which there are many, are extremely imaginative and certainly benefit from the fact that the first-time writer-directors of the film previously worked in stunts and visual effects. The violence is frenetic and brutal, lent an extra edge by the fact that most of the film is shot on hand-held cameras to keep you close to the action. Statham's need to keep upping his adrenaline makes for an excellent stunt excuse, whenever things slow down you know that in a few seconds you're guaranteed to get another slice of action that's even more insane than the last one.The film doesn't try to be serious, acknowledging it's similarities to video games regularly and strongly suggesting that in fact the whole thing may be some sort of new video game (there's even a 'Game Over' screen after the credits). The fact that it doesn't take itself at all seriously and concentrates instead on being as much fun as possible means that plot implausibilities or occasional bad CG don't just become forgivable, they actually enhance the experience. Watching this is a huge amount of fun, just so long as you don't think too much.There are supporting characters here but this whole film rests on Statham since he's on screen 99% of the time. He does a great job, throwing himself into the energy and silliness of the part whole heartedly. Statham was clearly enjoying himself a lot making this film and it's easy to see why. A sequel is on the way slated for release in 2009, here's hoping they can get Statham back on board for it since he really makes the movie and it wouldn't be the same without him.This movie is a ride, it doesn't require much from it's audience and it delivers a high speed, insanely entertaining experience that's just as good, maybe even better, on repeat viewings. If you consider yourself a fan of action movies then you definitely cannot afford to miss out on this one.

I have watched Crank many times in the past, had a few poor quality Blu Ray versions one from Australia and one from Europe, both of which had certain areas on the movie pixelating and not playing for a few moments. Disc related it was since I checked on other players.Now...taking a chance on this 4K with Blu Ray I can say I am not disappointed at all! Brilliant transfer to 4K and no playback issues.As far as the movie is concerned I know a lot of people dislike it, but suppose ya gotta try first to know. Just ends up one them types of movies I like to watch and re-watch again many times and never get fed up.

good film

I loved the fast action in this film.The acting was awesome.

My friend is a big Jason Statham fan. I said to her, ‘You must have LOVED ‘Crank’ then?’ to which she said that – actually – she hated it. Her reason was that it was too ‘unrealistic.’So, perhaps straight off, I should warn people that if they’re expecting something majorly true to life and realistic then they better move on. Crank is 100% not realistic. There have been numerous parallels to video games (mainly the ‘Grand Theft Auto’ franchise) in as much as it’s stupidly over-the-top, but knowingly so – so that’s okay (in my book, anyway).Jason ‘The Stath’ Statham, plays a hitman with a name that I can never remember how to spell and, one sunny morning in Los Angeles, he wakes up poisoned by a baddie and with less than an hour to live (but, it’s also worth noting that the film’s runtime is over an hour and a half, so we know that the Stath is going to last a little longer than his foe intended). However, luckily for our cockney hero (yes, he’s not bothering with his faux U.S. accent) he soon figures out that if he keeps his adrenaline suitably raised then he’ll be okay (well, not okay, but won’t die instantly).So, that’s basically the film – Jason Statham runs (literally!) from scene to scene, finding one weird and wonderful way of keeping his heart rate up while trying to track down and kill the person who did this to him (and, if there’s a genuine antidote out there, he’ll have that, too). And that’s where the video game similarities start to ring true. It does seem like Jason Statham is travelling from one ‘level’ to the next, fighting an ‘end-of-level-boss’ before moving on to the next. What I’m trying to say is that there isn’t much of a story to it, so – again – if you’re expecting either realism or an in-depth story then you’re looking in the wrong place.Me? I like a film that’s totally unrealistic with no real story. Therefore, I loved ‘Crank.’ Yes, it’s totally daft, but it never sets out to be anything other than a completely ridiculous action film that’s filmed like a cool ‘MTV-style’ music video. If it wasn’t for the fact that Jason Statham is a sex symbol for women, I may be almost tempted to say that Crank is a ‘guy’s film.’ Either way, it’s a type of film that you’ll either love or hate. I can’t see film critics appreciating it much. You don’t need much brain power to ‘get’ it – just be in the mood for something both action-packed and low brow. This is definitely it.