I first saw Jason Statham in The Italian Job. Since then I’ve seen him in a few other movies, including The Transporter and Transporter 2. Those movies had nonstop action in them and featured Statham in some impressive fight scenes. He also showed off his muscular body in the Transporter movies. Those movies didn’t have the strongest plots, but I did enjoy them. I wasn’t completely sure that I wanted to see his new movie, Crank, when I first saw previews. I decided to go when I had the chance to see it.

Chev Chelios, a hitman, woke up feeling very weird. He discovered a DVD that had a message from Verona, an enemy. Verona had injected Chev with a poison that would kill in within the hour because it was slowing his heart down. Chev started trying to call Doc Miles and his girlfriend Eve. While he was driving around, he figured out that if he kept moving and going fast it seemed to counter act the effects of the poison. Chev raced around the city, trying to find Verona. He was also doing everything he could think of to keep his heart rate up, including taking drugs and having sex with Eve in a public place.

Crank was full of action which did keep things moving along at a fast pace. I think this movie had more action in it than the other Statham action movies that I have seen. Since he had to keep moving to stay alive, he was racing around doing all kinds of things to keep his heart rate up. Most of the action involved Chev driving fast, running, or even getting into fights. There really wasn’t much time given for character development, which wasn’t unusual for movies with this much action. The plot was more unique than most action movies have and it did provide a legitimate reason for Chev to be running around fighting and killing. The plot was rather simple and didn’t offer suspense or surprises. The movie D.O.A.(1988) also dealt with a main character that was fatally poisoned and had the time to go afer who was responsible. The poison in this movie worked differently.

Crank was one of the more violent movies I have seen in a long time. The movie deserved the R rating and isn’t a movie that children should see. This was the most violent movie that I’ve seen Statham in, so people that liked some of his other movies could find this one too violent. Chev was involved in several fights throughout the movie and people got hurt or ended up dead. He really didn’t do any of the martial arts type of fighting that Statham is known for. Blood was gushing all over the place in a few scenes. I did think things that happened in a few scenes were more violent than they had to be. I really could have done without seeing a few of those things. If I start having nightmares involving sewing machines, it will the fault of this movie. This movie was definitely too violent for some people.

When the movie started, it was showing things from Chev’s perspective as he stumbled around his place trying to figure out what was wrong. That helped to illustrate what Chev was going through. The camera work at that time was a little jerky, which did fit with Chev staggering around his home. It wasn’t so bad that it annoyed which has happened in other movies. In other scenes later in the movie the camera work was very jerky, more jerky than it had been in the first few minutes at times. That did bother me a little in some of the scenes because it was hard to tell exactly what was going on. At different times during the movie, something would be shown from Chev’s perspective with the edges blurred to show the type of vision trouble he was having. In a few scenes there were some strange camera angles and editing used. I’m guessing that was done to try to make things seem more exciting but it was just weird. That was only done a few times, so it didn’t bother me too much.

There was a decent amount of humor added throughout Crank. Some action movies have done this in the past, but I don’t really remember ever seeing one that was this violent be so funny at times too. Chev was doing everything he could to keep his heart rate up which caused him to be in some bizarre situations that turned out to be very funny. Fairly early in the movie he was being chased by the police because of the way he had been driving. During the chase, he was calmly talking to Doc Miles about his condition. The chase ended in a very unique way that cracked me up. It was just so different and odd that I couldn’t help but laugh. As the movie progressed there were other moments that were genuinely funny that helped to lighten the mood. In one scene, Chev was dealing with some of Verona’s men while Eve was oblivious in the background. She was picking up things that had fallen out of her purse and putting on hand lotion and lip gloss babbling about nothing important. I had read about the humor in this movie before I saw it, but it was still funnier than I expected.

At one point, Chev ended up on the run wearing only his shoes, socks, and a hospital gown. That scene was a bit of a sexual situation because he also had a noticeable erection because of one thing he’d done to try to keep his heart rate up. His bare behind was shown a few times when he was running around in the hospital gown. At one point when Chev was out with Eve and realized his heart rate was dropping, he started trying to get her to have sex right where they were, which was a very public place full of people. Eve’s bare breast was briefly shown. That was really the only nudity in that scene. It was funny for a sex scene. A little later in the movie there was another sexual situation. At other times in the movie, topless women were shown briefly.

Chev wasn’t a typical movie hero since he was a hitman. The character managed to be likable for the most part despite that and some of the things he did. There was very little character development for any of the characters, including Chev. Not much about his life as a hitman was shared. There wasn’t time in the movie for that sort of development. I did like Jason Statham in the part. He has been very good in these types of action parts. I also liked him in Cellular and The Italian Job, movies that didn’t have as much action. He had an intensity that fit with Chev perfectly. He didn’t have the chance to do the type of martial arts fighting that he did so well in the Transporter movies though.

In an attempt to better understand what had happened to him, Chev called Doc Miles, his doctor. He was on his way back into town and somehow figured exactly what was going on from the limited things Chev told him on the phone. Doc Miles had a run down office and didn’t seem to be a fully legitimate doctor. Dwight Yoakam was fine in the few scenes he was in.

Eve and Chev had been dating for a while before he was poisoned, so their relationship was already established when the movie started. Eve wasn’t the brightest character but she wasn’t annoying. I have seen Amy Smart in a few other movies, like Just Friends, and I haven’t really cared for her that much before. She has annoyed me in the other movies I’ve seen her in. That didn’t happen in this movie. I thought she did better with her part in this movie even though it wasn’t as big of a part as some of her others.

Verona was the man that poisoned Chev. It seemed like the two men had known each other before and hadn’t liked each other. Verona was a very flat character. Really all that was made clear about him was that he hated Chev - a reason for the poisoning was given a little later in the movie - and he liked to act like a big shot. He didn’t like it if things didn’t go like he planned and he had what looked like a temper tantrum a few times. Jose Pablo Cantillo was believable in the part. Some of the men that worked for Verona and even his brother were briefly shown in a few scenes.

Main Cast

Jose Pablo Cantillo - Verona
Amy Smart - Eve
Jason Statham - Chev Chelios
Dwight Yoakam - Doc Miles

Mark Neveldine and Brain Taylor - Directors

Crank was a mindless, nonstop action movie. It was good for this type of movie so it would be a good choice for people in the mood for an action movie. The plot and characters could have been a bit more developed, but the movie was still entertaining.

Jason Statham Movie Reviews
Cellular ~ Collateral ~ The Italian Job ~ The Pink Panther ~ The Transporter ~ Transporter 2 ~


Recommended: Yes