Crank

Viewer Rating:dave b has rated Crank rating: 2 Star

Some years ago Keanu “I couldn't act if I was on fire but seem to be in a load of great movies” Reeves was in a movie called Speed. He had to drive a bus over fifty miles an hour or risk the possibility of everyone one board being blown into a million pieces. Well what if you were to apply the same logic to a human being? Sounds daft but they've done it, with alarmingly good results.   Chev Chelios, one of the oddest names for a person from England, is hit man who wakes up with a sore head. A movie is playing on his widescreen; some slaphead is informing him that he's been poisoned with a strange Chinese drug.  If his heartbeat goes below a certain level he'll die. Now it's up to him to come up some inventive ways of keeping the adrenaline pumping. And that he does, with gusto.   Sticking his hand in a waffle iron, drinking enough Red Bull to fill all the vodka in Langton's and generally doing things that a sane person would never do is the general gist of the film. With time running out Chev becomes more desperate, turning to some truly ridiculous methods of heart thumping.  Which, in fairness, is pretty enjoyable to watch.   Crank is one of those flashy movies that emulate the frenetic pace of the story in the film. Think of Tony Scott and his movies like Man on Fire. It comes across as an over-extended MTV video, but unlike Scott it's not overbearing.  The speed seems just right and the craziness of the story suits the style. Statham is his usual gruff self, setting the mould for his typecast, and does an admirable job as a drugged fuelled lunatic.   For a night off from the old grey matter you couldn't do much better. While the ladies in the audience might not take to it, the fella's should lap it up. Just tell her she can watch a Jennifer Aniston movie tomorrow night.

Review published on the 16 January 2007 22:05