Film Review – Crank 2 High Voltage (2009)
Jason Statham Has his Heart Removed as Chev Chelios
Jul 5, 2009
A few words about Crank 2: High Voltage. This film is misogynist, homophobic, racist, bigoted, violent, full of foul-mouthed characters, crass, insane, obscene, surreal to the extreme, completely nonsensical and borderline pornographic. Oh, and it’s easily one of the most watchable, funny and entertaining of the year.
Just to get the plot out of the way early on, as it is secondary to the madness that follows. Following on from the first film, this sees invincible hitman Chev Chelios (Jason Statham in gurning psycho mode) track down Chinese gangsters who have stolen his heart and replaced it with a machine that needs to be continually charged by any means necessary, including being jump started by a car or rubbing up against old women. To help him as ever is his ditzy girlfriend Eve (Amy Smart) and Doc Miles (Dwight Yoakam). Does that make any sense? No? Good, because it doesn’t matter.
Crank 2 is more than a Dumb Action Film
From the outside Crank 2: High Voltage appears to be just another dumb action film aimed at idiotic adolescents but at its heart is a parody of a genre that has become bloated and needlessly over-the-top. The directors, Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, are clearly smart people who understand that the only way to get noticed these days is to create controversy and offence, and having a pop at the vacuous nature of Hollywood along the way.
To hammer home this point there’s one humorous scene where Chelios cuts through the middle of a placard protest by porn stars complaining about low pay. That’s satire on so many levels that not even the guys at South Park could come up with something as clever and succinct.
A Live-action Video Game with Soundtrack by Mike Patton
What is instantly clear from Crank 2 and the original is that the makers are huge video game fans. Numerous reviewers and critics have noted that this series is more like live-action games than films, especially when Chelios gets knocked down or beaten senseless only to dust himself off and keep running.
The recharge moments, where the hero finds another item to keep his heart pumping, are like a character collecting power-ups. Review cliché #15: It’s like watching someone play through a tough mission on Grand Theft Auto but getting mowed down and set on fire along the way. This isn’t a film, it’s essentially a collection of set pieces – strip club shoot-outs, Godzilla inspired fights, ridiculous public acts of carnal lust at a racecourse, shotguns inserted in intimate areas – all tied together by a strange story and shot with kinetic style.
One thing that lifts this film above other fast-paced actioners is the soundtrack. Instead of layering Chelios’s violent acts with generic thrash metal the directors sought out experimental alt rock genius Mike Patton (of Faith No More and Mr. Bungle fame) to compose the score. Only a man like Patton could create music as random and adrenaline fuelled as the film itself, leaving it halfway between Aphex Twin and his own Fantômas project. So in that respect it is the perfect accompaniment and is the best thing about Crank 2.
Crank 2 is a Bad but Fun Film
Of course this isn’t a great film by any stretch of the imagination and is obviously a load of B-movie rubbish, but that’s exactly what it’s meant to be and hence what makes it all the more enjoyable. Crank 2 is also far too similar to its predecessor to truly be considered a sequel, but it does up the ante somewhat when it comes to surrealism. It won’t make any “end of year” lists, maybe some “worst of” rundowns, but the world needs films that polarise opinion and push the boundaries of acceptability. Let’s hope more of them turn out to be as amusing and wildly entertaining as this.
- Starring Jason Statham, Amy Smart, Dwight Yoakam
- Written and directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor
- Running Time: 96 minutes
 |
