The film is so jubilantly over the top and aware of its own failings, it’s hard not to laugh.
Crank (2006)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:86
Fresh:52
Rotten:34
Average Rating:6/10
Consensus: It's a film about a guy injected with Speed... wait, there's no bus. It's a film about a guy who has to kick a bunch of squirmy butt to stay alive... wait, no snakes or planes here. But it is a film about doing lots of drugs and pulling lots of punches, and it entertains accordingly.
Rated: 18 [See Full Rating] for strong violence, pervasive language, sexuality, nudity and drug use.
Runtime: 87 mins
Genre: Action/Adventure
Theatrical Release:01-09-2006
Synopsis: Screenwriters and directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor make their feature-film debut in this fast-paced action film. Freelance hitman Chev Chelios (Jason Statham) wakes up with a big problem;... Screenwriters and directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor make their feature-film debut in this fast-paced action film. Freelance hitman Chev Chelios (Jason Statham) wakes up with a big problem; a DVD left in his apartment by smalltime gangster Ricky Vanero (Jose Pablo Cantillo) tells him that he has only one hour to live. While Chev was asleep, Vanero injected him with a deadly synthetic drug from China--known as the Beijing Cocktail--as payback for Chev's last hit. Now, Chev's only hope to stay alive is to keep his adrenalin pumping. Dead set on revenge against Vanero, Chev also has to keep his girlfriend, Eve (Amy Smart), out of the mob's hands. To complicate matters, naïve, sweet Eve has no idea that her charming British boyfriend is a hitman. Even worse, Chev's boss, Carlito (Carlos Sanz) has no intention of helping his favorite freelancer. Luckily, Chev's friend Doc Miles (Dwight Yoakam) can offer some temporary lifesaving advice; his drugged pal has to keep moving. Downing cans of Red Bull and popping over-the-counter energy pills, Chev is a crazed man on a mission. He has to exact revenge on Vanero, save his girlfriend, and find an antidote, all while keeping his slowing heart pumping. Fear, sex and violence are the best way to keep adrenalin flowing, and there's no shortage of any of them in this nonstop action flick. Extreme chase scenes, shootouts, and romance abound, along with plenty of clipped dialogue and just enough dark humor. Statham plays Chev with a perfect combination of steely determination and utter insanity--a guy who is finally trying to do the right thing, even if it means killing lots of people along the way. Cantillo's Vanero is a little fish playing in a very big pond, but not quite the player he thinks he is. [More]
Starring: Jason Statham, Dwight Yoakam, Efren Ramirez, Jose Pablo Cantillo
Starring: Jason Statham, Dwight Yoakam, Efren Ramirez, Jose Pablo Cantillo, Amy Smart, Carlos Sanz
Director: Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor
Director: Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor
Screenwriter: Brian Taylor
Producer: Michael Davis, Gary Lucchesi, Tom Rosenberg, Richard Wright
Composer: Paul Haslinger
Studio: Lions Gate Films
Reviews for Crank
Ridiculously, incomprehensibly, undeniably cool, brilliantly, passionately and hysterically original; pure cinema heaven.
Enjoyably fast-paced, gloriously trashy thriller with some inventive directorial touches.
Statham brings his usual hardnut conviction to his ludicrously named protagonist, while the pic contains what is easily the best car chase through a shopping mall scene since The Blues Brothers.
This is an intense, stripped-down ride that goes places you’d never expect. Edgy and outrageous, it should get the fearless Statham some deserved attention.
It revels in its crazed B-movie vibe, and as a result we can't help but enjoy every ludicrous minute.
This is a turn-your-brain-off-and-enjoy-the-ride type thing and as such it works brilliantly.
So blatantly contrived it could be called The Fast and the Spurious, Crank has the small saving grace of being intentionally ridiculous.
At times, Crank is loads of fun and threatens to enter that golden territory of so-bad-it's-good, but the violence grows far too ugly and is so unrelenting that it becomes tiresome.
Writer-directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor's previous work lies mainly in making commercials -- the quick-cutting aesthetic employed here.
Statham, who's tailor-made for this kind of thing, nevertheless spends too much time doing his cool-menace thing to communicate the sort of urgency the (semblance of a) plot demands.
Cheerfully moronic ... While most action flicks these days require their audience to turn their brains off, this movie somehow actually does it for you.
Crank is still an atrocity of visual design, acting, and fundamental storytelling that, at times, scarily resembles an especially smelly YouTube submission.
Sure, Crank is totally ridiculous, unbelievable, exhausting, and pretty much just plain stupid, but that's what makes it fun.
Ranks among the most mindless action films ever made, but scores as a helluva video game.
An instant cult classic. Pure, hardcore moviemaking backed by an inane plot, unrelenting action and zero pretensions.
Relying upon an abbreviated and accelerated plotline informed by Rudolph Mate's 1949 film noir classic D.O.A., Crank is a hard-R-rated chase-and-smash movie fixed around Euro action movie magnet Jason Statham.
Latest News for Crank
April 15, 2009:
Exclusive: Bullets and Babes on the Crank High Voltage Set
In this week's super-charged sequel to the 2006 sleeper hit, Crank (60%), the writing-directing team of Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor (known simply as "Neveldine + Taylor")... More...
September 26, 2008:
Exclusive: David Carradine Cameo in Crank 2 says Statham
It's not just Death Race that boasts a cameo from legend David Carradine. According to star Jason Statham, speaking to RT this week ahead of the UK release of Death Race, the... More...
September 26, 2008:
RT Interview: Jason Statham Chats Death Race, Crank 2 and The Sweeney
RT catches up with Jason Statham to learn more about the Death Race and grill him on upcoming turns in Crank 2, Transporter 3 and the possibility of an appearance in Nick Love's... More...
October 30, 2007:
Crank 2 Details Revealed
Not long ago, we discussed Jason Statham's plans to reprise his role as hitman Chev Chelios in a sequel to Crank. Now, thanks to Variety, we know how the filmmakers intend to... More...
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