Author: Jason Statham

Format: Widescreen

Release Date: 30-07-2019

Details: Amazon.ca CrankAction anti-hero Jason Statham is competing with himself to make the most relentless, non-stop action flick imaginable. In Crank, tatham stars as a hit man named Chev Chelios who's been poisoned by some Chinese toxin; the only way to stave it off is to keep his adrenalin flowing, which requires him to drive at top speeds through crowded traffic, start fights in bars, and run pell-mell down hospital corridors while wearing one of those humiliating smocks that tie in the back. In other words, Crank is high-end pop-trash, filled with many preposterous/ingenious stunts and over-the-top performances (Dwight Yoakam, Sling Blade, is downright droll as a doctor offering Chev assistance), marred by an unpleasant attitude towards women (Amy Smart, Outside Providence, will not look back on this as one of her signature roles). This is a movie for the audience who enjoyed Transporter and Transporter 2 but wanted Statham's perpetual scowl to become a kind of theatrical mask, a perpetual signifier of intensity that begs--nay, demands--that everything around it rise to a mutual level of absurdity. Fans of Luc Besson (Leon / The Professional, District 13) will find Crank to be simpatico. --Bret FetzerCrank 2: High VoltageThe critics have not been very kind to Crank: High Voltage. But what do they know? Here's what this movie has going for it: gratuitous nudity, mindless violence, constant profanity, and a ridiculous storyline. Add to that stereotypes galore (gay, Asian, Latino, the neuropsychiatrically disabled, you name it), strippers with guns, a strike by porn actors (with a cameo appearance by Ron Jeremy), and a guy who refers to his heart as a "strawberry tart," and one can only wonder what's not to like. In fact, writer-director-producers Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor's sequel to 2006's Crank is an absolute hoot, a non-stop assault of crazy sights and sounds that will leave you breathless and laughing. As the action starts, Jason Statham's Chev Chelios has not only survived the fall from a helicopter that ended the earlier film, but is now on the operating table, awake and watching as some Chinese villains harvest his "tart" in order to implant it in their aging leader (a wacky turn by David Carradine). Chev quickly dispatches the bad guys, but the fun's just starting; the mechanical ticker they've put inside him needs constant recharging, so as Chev pursues the real organ, he must use whatever's available (jumper cables, a police taser, a car cigarette lighter, high voltage power lines) to keep the fake one going . Storywise, that's about it. But it's plenty, as the filmmakers' ultra-kinetic style--with its manic edits, cartoony subtitles, and other envelope-stretching effects--and amusing performances by Amy Smart (as Chev's girlfriend), Dwight Yoakam (as a "doctor" who helps him figure out what's happening), and others keep things going. No, Crank: High Voltage ain't exactly Masterpiece Theater, but this is without a doubt one of 2009's most entertaining films. --Sam Graham

UPC: 065935583721

EAN: 0065935583721

Languages: English

Binding: Blu-ray

Item Condition: New