Directors: Mark Neveldine & Brian Taylor
Running time: 91 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 18
Norway release date: 16th April 2009
Watched on DVD Tuesday 23rd November 2010.
PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.
OK, so this is a no brainer, just mindless action from start to finish. You know how it is, sometimes you just want to turn your brain off and watch a film that isn’t going to tax it too much. Well here it is… It helps if you’ve seen the first one in the series, Crank (2006), but there are plenty of flashbacks if you haven’t. Here’s a short summary before I tell you what I think (summary haters please plug yourselves into the mains for the duration of the next paragraph).
Our hero, Chev Chelios, has fallen out of a helicopter; he survives only to be picked up by a gang of Orientals. They perform surgery on him and remove his heart, replacing it with a battery powered artificial heart. He escapes and goes in search of his real heart, now in the hands of a low-life called Johnny Vang. Feeling under the weather he calls up his friend, Doc Miles, who tells him that in order to keep the artificial heart going he must keep giving his skin an electrical charge every now and then. So, with time running out, he finds various allies on the way, including old flame, Eve Lydon and the brother of a victim from the first film, Venus. To add a bit of spice to the mix, a gang of Mexicans are also after Chelios. Will he find his real heart in time of will the Mexicans be having a fiesta? Well, I guess I can’t tell you that.
This film has a real comic-book feel to it, some of the dialogue, although spoken in English ends up as subtitles. The picture, at times, looks like it’s been shot on a really low budget and some of the locations, back alleys etc. look like they just turned up and shot. Decent performances all round, although nobody was stretched, so honourable mentions go to; Jason Statham as Chev Chelios, Amy Smart as Eve Lydon, Dwight Yoakam as Doc Miles and Efren Ramirez as Venus.
It’s definitely not going to win any awards, but, for the most part, it’s pretty good fun. It did get a little tedious after about an hour, but by then I was prepared to see it through. There’s nothing particularly new here but I did find it pretty entertaining. I think you’ve got to be prepared to not think too much and you’ll enjoy the ride. So, over all, although quite mindless, it’s good fun if you like crazy action thrillers, there are a few comic moments and it does what it says on the tin… Recommended.
My score: 6.0/10
LINKS:
IMDb Page: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1121931/
Official Site: http://www.crank2.com/
Trailer: http://uk.imdb.com/rg/VIDEO_PLAY/LINK/video/screenplay/vi211026457/
Running time: 91 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 18
Norway release date: 16th April 2009
Watched on DVD Tuesday 23rd November 2010.
PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.
OK, so this is a no brainer, just mindless action from start to finish. You know how it is, sometimes you just want to turn your brain off and watch a film that isn’t going to tax it too much. Well here it is… It helps if you’ve seen the first one in the series, Crank (2006), but there are plenty of flashbacks if you haven’t. Here’s a short summary before I tell you what I think (summary haters please plug yourselves into the mains for the duration of the next paragraph).
Our hero, Chev Chelios, has fallen out of a helicopter; he survives only to be picked up by a gang of Orientals. They perform surgery on him and remove his heart, replacing it with a battery powered artificial heart. He escapes and goes in search of his real heart, now in the hands of a low-life called Johnny Vang. Feeling under the weather he calls up his friend, Doc Miles, who tells him that in order to keep the artificial heart going he must keep giving his skin an electrical charge every now and then. So, with time running out, he finds various allies on the way, including old flame, Eve Lydon and the brother of a victim from the first film, Venus. To add a bit of spice to the mix, a gang of Mexicans are also after Chelios. Will he find his real heart in time of will the Mexicans be having a fiesta? Well, I guess I can’t tell you that.
This film has a real comic-book feel to it, some of the dialogue, although spoken in English ends up as subtitles. The picture, at times, looks like it’s been shot on a really low budget and some of the locations, back alleys etc. look like they just turned up and shot. Decent performances all round, although nobody was stretched, so honourable mentions go to; Jason Statham as Chev Chelios, Amy Smart as Eve Lydon, Dwight Yoakam as Doc Miles and Efren Ramirez as Venus.
It’s definitely not going to win any awards, but, for the most part, it’s pretty good fun. It did get a little tedious after about an hour, but by then I was prepared to see it through. There’s nothing particularly new here but I did find it pretty entertaining. I think you’ve got to be prepared to not think too much and you’ll enjoy the ride. So, over all, although quite mindless, it’s good fun if you like crazy action thrillers, there are a few comic moments and it does what it says on the tin… Recommended.
My score: 6.0/10
LINKS:
IMDb Page: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1121931/
Official Site: http://www.crank2.com/
Trailer: http://uk.imdb.com/rg/VIDEO_PLAY/LINK/video/screenplay/vi211026457/
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