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Movies / On DVD / Crank
Crank

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Crank (2006)

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60 %
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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

[See More Credits]

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Reviews for Crank

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1 - 20 (sorted by comments; UK critics are listed first)
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The film is so jubilantly over the top and aware of its own failings, it’s hard not to laugh.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
08/31/06
Anna Smith
Anna Smith
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Daily Mirror [UK] | comment Comment
09/01/06
David Edwards
David Edwards
Daily Mirror [UK]

Ridiculously, incomprehensibly, undeniably cool, brilliantly, passionately and hysterically original; pure cinema heaven.

Full Review Source: FilmFocus | comment Comment
08/29/06
Joe Utichi
Joe Utichi
FilmFocus

Enjoyably fast-paced, gloriously trashy thriller with some inventive directorial touches.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
08/31/06
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

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.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
08/29/06
Neil Smith
Neil Smith
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
09/01/06
Nick De Semlyen
Nick De Semlyen
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Vulgar, ridiculous, offensive and absolutely riveting.

Full Review Source: Observer [UK] | comment Comment
09/02/06
Philip French
Philip French
Observer [UK]

It revels in its crazed B-movie vibe, and as a result we can't help but enjoy every ludicrous minute.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
08/24/06
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

This is a turn-your-brain-off-and-enjoy-the-ride type thing and as such it works brilliantly.

Full Review Source: Greenwich Village Gazette | comment 1 Comment
09/01/06
Eric Lurio
Eric Lurio
Greenwich Village Gazette

So blatantly contrived it could be called The Fast and the Spurious, Crank has the small saving grace of being intentionally ridiculous.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment 1 Comment
09/01/06
Liam Lacey
Liam Lacey
Globe and Mail

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.

Full Review Source: Reel.com | comment 1 Comment
09/23/06
Pam Grady
Pam Grady
Reel.com

Writer-directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor's previous work lies mainly in making commercials -- the quick-cutting aesthetic employed here.

Full Review Source: Associated Press | comment Comment
09/01/06
Associated Press
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment Comment
10/21/06
Sydney Morning Herald

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.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
09/01/06
Alex Markerson
Alex Markerson
E! Online

Cheerfully moronic ... While most action flicks these days require their audience to turn their brains off, this movie somehow actually does it for you.

Full Review Source: The Stranger (Seattle, WA) | comment Comment
09/01/06
Andrew Wright
Andrew Wright
The Stranger (Seattle, WA)

Crank is still an atrocity of visual design, acting, and fundamental storytelling that, at times, scarily resembles an especially smelly YouTube submission.

Full Review Source: FilmJerk.com | comment Comment
09/02/06
Brian Orndorf
Brian Orndorf
FilmJerk.com

Sure, Crank is totally ridiculous, unbelievable, exhausting, and pretty much just plain stupid, but that's what makes it fun.

Full Review Source: UGO | comment Comment
03/24/07
Brian Tallerico
Brian Tallerico
UGO

Ranks among the most mindless action films ever made, but scores as a helluva video game.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
03/01/07
Bruce Feld
Bruce Feld
Film Journal International

An instant cult classic. Pure, hardcore moviemaking backed by an inane plot, unrelenting action and zero pretensions.

Full Review Source: Bangor Daily News (Maine) | comment Comment
09/02/06
Christopher Smith
Christopher Smith
Bangor Daily News (Maine)

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.

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
09/01/06
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by comments; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 >> >|
all

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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