Crank: A no Nostalgia Review

[ImSkeletor]

[HEADING=2] PLOT SUMMARY [/HEADING]

In case you don't know the basic premise of Crank is that Chev Chelios was given a very powerful Chinese poison that can only be slowed down by filling his body with adrenaline. If he goes without adrenaline for a minute or two his heart slows down then stops. So Chev in a final act of vengeance is going to kill the man who did this too him before his heart stops. So basically to get adrenaline he drives fast, assaults people, and does insane amounts of drugs.

Even when Jason Statham is getting high off of nasal spray he's cooler then everyone else.​

[HEADING=2] THE ACTION [/HEADING]

As we all know the main reason you watch a movie like this is for the action. The action of this movie is so over the top it is both amazingly cool and made me laugh harder then most comedies. This movie is so balls out crazy that I was laughing so hard I couldn't say "Wow" at the scene where he is in the mall. (When you see it you will understand why) The film has all the high quality stunt driving and hand to hand combat you come to expect from a Jason Statham film, but it is wrapped in really good dark humor and some of the strangest editing. I actually consider this film the greatest game adaption of all time. The reason why is that THE ENTIRE film feels like an adaption of the night where you were really bored so you threw in GTA and ran over pedestrians, assaulted innocent people, and caused as much property damage as possible before getting in a police chase after you stole a police officers motorcycle and just like when you were playing GTA he is trying to stop from getting bored. And depending on who you are the other similarity is that he is high while he does this. I do have to say though once in a while something the film does will cross the boundary of being crazy and funny to just being stupid or annoying like a lot of the stuff involving his flamboyant gay informant.

I think this picture says enough for its self.​

[HEADING=2] THE CHARACTERS AND ACTING [/HEADING]

There are very few characters in this movie and that is even by my qualification of a character where you have to have a name or nickname and I should be able to write two sentences about who you are without using your profession. With that standard there is only like five characters. The main character Chev is pretty much the standard Jason Statham character except a lot worse of a person though he does care a lot about his girlfriend Eve who is played by Amy Smart. Even when she gets in the way of HIS SURVIVAL he doesn't raise his voice at her. Jason Statham has kind of a natural likability which really shines while playing Chev. Amy smart plays his lazy girlfriend who at least cares a lot about him. Jose Cantillo plays Verona who poisoned Chev at the beginning of the film. He is also somehow more of a sociopath then Chev is which is quite a feat. All of them perform there characters pretty well. Also for the few quiet moments of the film Jason reminds us that he can act; especially at the end of the film.

Jason Statham has a gun. Need I say more?
[HEADING=2] RANDOM OTHER COMMENTS ABOUT THE FILM [/HEADING]​

The movie has a pretty cool soundtrack that makes some of the best action scenes better. Also the movie has some very strange editing and sometimes while Jason is doing something that is just cool instead of awesome they feel the need to put on random color filters. I?m not really sure if I like it or not. Also the special effects are kind of hit or miss due to the twelve million dollar budget.

[HEADING=2] Final Verdict [/HEADING]

If you want an awesome balls to the wall action movie with then go for it. If you want something deep avoid it.

EXTRA NOTE: I made up this subtitle for my Gremlins review but it doesn't work as well with movies like this. Should I change it?

Gremlins [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.304009-Gremlins-A-no-Nostalgia-review]

 

[Marter]

I watched this film last week.

My summary of it went like this:

At the very least, Crank gives you a solid reason for its lead character to be put through action scene after action scene. I'm thankful for that, and since I had a good enough time while watching it, I'm willing to forgive most of its flaws. It's not a film with good characters, special effects, plot or cinematography, but is instead a film that has relentless action that is occasionally offensive. I say watch it if that's what you want from a film, because it will entertain you.

So yeah, that's about how I summed up Crank. Your review is mostly in-line with my opinion.

My full review will be up in approximately 3.5 weeks, and following it will be a review of the sequel.

Side note: Have you seen Crank 2? What did you think of it?

 

[ImSkeletor]

I watched this film last week.

My summary of it went like this:

At the very least, Crank gives you a solid reason for its lead character to be put through action scene after action scene. I'm thankful for that, and since I had a good enough time while watching it, I'm willing to forgive most of its flaws. It's not a film with good characters, special effects, plot or cinematography, but is instead a film that has relentless action that is occasionally offensive. I say watch it if that's what you want from a film, because it will entertain you.

So yeah, that's about how I summed up Crank. Your review is mostly in-line with my opinion.

My full review will be up in approximately 3.5 weeks, and following it will be a review of the sequel.

Side note: Have you seen Crank 2? What did you think of it?

I finished watching Crank 2:High Voltage for the first time about an hour ago. They kind of let loose and increased the amount of breasts, blood, and jokes and made the humor darker in places like the Therapist scene. I do feel like there was a lot more duds in the joke department though and I don't know why but I didn't like the ending to the second one nearly as much. I like the movie a lot but I still didn't like it as much as the first.

What did you think?