Movie Review: Crank: High Voltage

Jason Statham stars in over-the-top sequel to the original Crank

Jun 2, 2009 Rob Humanick

Over-the-top is merely the beginning of this flawed sequel to the 2006 sleeper hit Crank. Jason Statham returns as the unstoppable Chev Chelios. 2.5 stars out of 4.

Anyone who saw 2006’s take-no-prisoners action trashterpiece Crank knows that its directors, Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor (credited as Neveldine/Taylor), aren’t a pair inclined towards the subtle or low-key. Such was apparent in that film’s plot, which concerned hitman Chev Chelios, (Jason Statham, seen recently in the surprisingly excellent Death Race and the savory Transporter 3) who – having been poisoned by enemies in his sleep – must keep moving, lest the toxic agents in his bloodstream slow down his body into paralysis and, shortly thereafter, death. Like Run Lola Run, it was a simple concept that made for a ceaseless chase film.

Over-the-Top: Love It Or Hate It?

For Crank: High Voltage, the makers have opted for the seemingly traditional “more of the same” route, only very little of this sequel can be described as traditional. Excessive even compared to its predecessor, High Voltage is a nonstop volley of abrasive and knee-jerk unpleasant images (pity those who watch this movie unaware) that never ceases to top itself. From the altogether creative use of a shotgun in the first five minutes to the climactic image of Jason Statham flipping the bird at the camera, High Voltage is a work unlikely to instill feelings other than love or hate.

To these eyes, it’s a little of both. High Voltage never completely ascends the pinnacle of audio/visual madness to which it aspires, but its efforts are, at the very least, fascinating to behold. Miraculously alive after the conclusion of the last film (a logical impossibility simply taken at face value here, in keeping with the series’ video game essence), Chelios awakens to find himself being prepared to have his organs harvested, his heart already gone and replaced with an electric counterpart that – once he’s dispatched with his immediate foes and vacated the premises of the black market hospital – requires electrical charging no less than once per hour.

Appropriately Foul, But Never Hits Its Stride

The sight of Jason Statham attaching his tongue to automobile jump cables and grabbing hold of live power wires would probably be concept enough to drive – if not entirely justify – this sequel, but High Voltage is nothing if not all or, and so there isn’t a facet here that isn’t taken to the (sometimes nauseating) heights of ridiculousness. Shot with garish lighting and unflattering, distorting camera lenses, High Voltage feels abrasive but quickly takes on a gritty, ugly kind of hypnosis, its murky palate violently punctuated by messy shoot-outs (wherein innocent bystanders drop like flies), language-heavy confrontations, and highly distinct supporting characters (among them, a nails-on-chalkboard screaming hooker and several familiar faces from the first Crank) who aid Chelios' efforts as much as they impede them.

Unfortunately, Neveldine/Taylor’s bag of ideas is as refreshingly unique as it is mixed. For almost every ingenious set piece (Chelios and his girlfriend [Amy Smart, good sport as always] follow-up their previous act of public indecency, here at a race track, to unspeakable results; a face-off amidst electrical towers takes on Godzilla-sized proportions in the most inspired scene), there proves at least a handful of wheel-spinning sequences during which High Voltage seems to be merely chasing its own tail. One gets the sense that every idea found its way into the production when a more selective editing process would have increased the overall product exponentially. Both exhilarating and exhausting, it falls just short of a fever pitch.

Directors: Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor.
Screenplay: Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor.
Cast: Jason Statham, Amy Smart, Clifton Collins Jr., Bai Ling, David Carradine, Corey Haim, Efren Ramirez, and Dwight Yoakam.
85 minutes, Rated R, 2009

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Movie poster for Crank: High Voltage	Jason Statham and Amy Smart in Crank: High Voltage	A Toho-sized brawl in Crank: High Voltage
Jason Statham gets medieval in Crank: High Voltage	Teaser poster for Crank: High Voltage