Crank: High Voltage

The first movie I saw when I moved to go to college (for the second time) was Crank. Therefore it was all too fitting that as soon as I finished my last of my final year, I headed straight over to the theatre to watch the sequel. I have to believe that the guys who make these movies actually planned that. It was such a fitting and awesome bookend to school.

I loved the first movie and was pretty damn excited for this one. I fully embraced the stupid premise, which many people don't seem capable of doing. Even the movie itself acknowledges how stupid it is, so you can't fault them too much. But of course Crank High Voltage is not the movie you go and see for deep plot and characters, you go to see it in order to watch 80 minutes of really fucked up stuff. This one delivers that in spades.

I've mentioned before (maybe not in this blog actually, definitely in the old one) that I will watch just about everything Jason Statham does. The man is infinitely watchable and can kick an ass like nobody's business. The problem is that most of the movies he's in are not that good. He usually ends up being the best part because he always seems to put in the effort, even when the movie may not really deserve it. He fully fucking commits to Crank 2. He has to do some ridiculous shit in this movie but he really throws himself into it and it adds so much to the movie. He really does become a live action cartoon.

My reviews really seem to have a formula going now. Plot-main actor-supporting cast-movie as a whole-wrap-up. Oh well it works. The supporting cast is good here. Amy Smart seems to get more to do here and same with Statham, really gives her all in the role and even gets to beat the shit out of Corey Haim, which is pretty great. The villains are pretty underdeveloped but meh. You pretty much just want to see Statham kill them so I can let that slide. 

The most fun though is all of the cameos that show up in this movie. None of them are huge stars, but more recognizable faces. The trailers have sadly given away a lot of them but there are still some fun ones in there that I'm not going to spoil here.

Crank High Voltage really embraces the whole idea that these are just a live action video game. The score often sounds like something you might hear in an old 8-bit video game. There is even a sequence where Statham keeps killing people and upgrading his weapon. Each time he gets a new one it plays a little bit of triumphant game music. Later when he loses a crucial item it makes a sound similar to when Pac-Man dies. It's goofy, but fun.

That pretty much describes the whole movie. It does take things about 10 steps further than the first movie. You really never know just what the hell is going to come next. There is one part I thought was a little stupid, and this is also the point where a couple of people walked out. For the most part though I had a lot of fucking fun with this movie. It's random, fun, and really never does let up. The term "non-stop action" is thrown around a fucking lot but in this case it's very, very true. 

Same with Observe & Report, I can really see how this movie would divide people. Anyone who liked the first SHOULD like this one. Anyone who didn't, or has no clue what Crank is, stay far the fuck away.

8.5/10