The last time we saw hitman Chev Chelios (Jason Statham) he was lying face down on the pavement, having fallen 14,000 feet from a helicopter. It was pretty clear he was dead; or as Chev would say ‘brown bread.’ Director Mark Neveldine and his co-writer Brian Taylor have an inspired solution to this problem. They allow Chev to survive, but acknowledge how ridiculous this with a droll newscaster commenting in a mock news report, “I can scarcely believe what I’m reporting.”
Cranking up the Action
In Crank Chev had to keep his adrenaline flowing to counteract the serum he has been infected with. This time around his heart has been removed by Triads and Chev is given an artificial replacement. After escaping, Chev damages the battery pack for his new heart and must blast himself with electricity to keep his new ticker working. Then he sets about hunting down those responsible and causes mayhem throughout LA.
Subverting Reality
Crank High Voltage opens with the finale of Crank shown in basic 80’s style computer graphics. Then the film switches to the ‘real’ world, although it maintains the logic of a computer game. Chelios undergoes experiences that would almost certainly kill a man, but like a character in a game he simply gets up and walks away.
Most films ask the viewer to suspend their disbelief; to accept what they are being shown onscreen as taking place in a version of the real world. Neveldine and Taylor take great delight in showing how fake the whole process is. One fight sequence owes much to the Godzilla movies with Chelios and his adversary morphing into giant monsters and slugging it out over the city. Inter-titles with abusive messages interrupt the narrative at various points, making Crank High Voltage look like Grand Theft Auto directed by Jean Luc Godard.
Jason Statham and the Cast
Jason Statham deserves an award for some of the things he does here.
The man has proved himself a capable action hero, but who knew he could be so funny? The sequence where he removes a collar designed to control dangerous dogs from an Alsatian, then has its owner administer electric shocks to him is a master-class in slapstick. Crank High Voltage also deserves kudos for bringing together an eclectic cast including former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell, fallen 80’s star Corey Haim (The Lost Boys) and Kung-Fu legend David Carradine.
Warning! Not for the Faint-Hearted
Crank High Voltage is not for the easily offended. It features Chev sodomising a henchman with a shotgun, rubbing himself up against a little old lady to generate static electricity, plenty of gratuitous violence and the most profane language you’ll ever hear. Some people will tell you this film is stupid, but Neveldine and Taylor have made a Meta action movie, pushing the boundaries the genre to see just how ridiculous they can make it. If you do go and see Crank High Voltage remember to lift your jaw off the floor when you are leaving the cinema.
- Crank: High Voltage
- Starring Jason Statham, Amy Smart and David Carradine
- Written by Brian Taylor, Mark Neveldine
- Directed by Mark Neveldine
- Running Time 96 minutes
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