Crank 4K Ultra HD Review

THE MOVIE — 3.5/5

Note: This portion is a re-print of my original theatrical review from 2006 with an update at the end.

“Poison in his veins. Vengeance in his heart.” The tagline says it all.

Crank is the latest movie showcasing Jason Statham’s rise as an action star following The Transporter in 2002 and its sequel, Transporter 2 in ’05 (not to mention he was probably the most charismatic of the bunch in The Italian Job). Neither Transporter movies broke out (the second did out gross the original, though), but Statham has built a fan base over the years and although he is not an A-list action hero in the mold of 1980s Bruce Willis, I think he is onto something.

Crank tells the story of assassin Chev Chelios (Statham) who wakes up one morning very groggy and discovers, via DVD, that he has been injected with what is called the “Beijing Cocktail”, a poison that slows the heart and the only way to stay alive is keep the adrenaline flowing. Chev uses his last hours to track down and take vengeance on Chinese gangster Verona (Cantillo) who was the one who injected Chelios because he assassinated one of the Chinese mob bosses. With the help of oblivious, though hot, girlfriend Eve (Smart), the two tear through Los Angeles to keep him alive and find and kill Verona.

Based on the trailers, I expected a simple action vehicle to display Statham’s talents and though indeed there is a decent amount of that, I did not expect writer/directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor (billed as Nevedine/Taylor) to slip in LSD in my drink either. If you take something like Terry Gilliam’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas or 2002’s Spun, you’d get Crank. The hyperactive direction isn’t annoying and it is quite fitting for a film about a man infected with not only the poison but afterwards, takes cocaine, epha- something and god knows how many other drugs. Nevedine/Taylor uses mostly a hand-held camera throughout giving us Chev’s POV; what he sees, we see.

Crank is not a movie, like the Transporter films, you watch for some top-notch acting, thought provoking dialogue or an overall meaning. No, simply put, it is a movie that you might love and your friends might hate. It is a guilty pleasure at its finest. However, for his part, Statham makes mostly everything work from the action/stunt sequences to the dark humor scattered nearly every other minute (from sneaking up on a motorcycle cop to crashing his car through a mall).

It also helps when Amy Smart finally arrives halfway through, wearing some skimpy bed clothing in her intro and following up with a sex scene later that seemed to come from the American Pie movies. Dwight Yoakam makes what is essentially a cameo appearance as Chev’s doctor who gives advice on how to keep the adrenaline up, shame he didn’t get more than 5-minutes of screen time — course, that’s 6% of the entire film (including credits!).

For me, I enjoyed the change-up in regards to the direction but although it is unique, it can also get on one’s nerves even with a flimsy story. That is going to affect repeat viewing as you see it once and it’s interesting, see it twice and it’s quite annoying. The biggest plus the film does have is it knows that the story is stupid and plays off of that with silly and raunchy humor mixed in with some insane stunt work to make the movie better than it probably deserved to be.

Mixing psychedelic visuals, some choice music ranging from rock to ’60s contemporary and stunt sequences that, though not the best I’ve seen even from Statham, were still pretty damn good, Crank delivers what it promises. Its core audience will eat up every moment of the short 83-minute runtime with all those plus some T&A to really get things rolling.

2019 Update: Since I wasn’t wild about my first experience watching 13 years ago, decide to give it another go and while I still wasn’t in love with the film compared to others, I did find it entertaining even with the chaotic filmmaking style (and yes, I know it was to match up with the adrenaline aspect). Not sure this is one of Statham’s better movies but between this and The Transporter, showed his star power and ability to carry a movie.

SPECIAL FEATURES – 3.0/5

This release comes with a glossy slip cover, inside is a redemption code for the Digital HD copy. Features included: Shooting Crank (7:07) behind-the-scenes featurette with interviews by writers-directors, producers, actors (including Statham); The Stunts of Crank (17:24) breaks down the high-level action/stunt sequences; Pushing Crank (6:22) looks at the promotion of the movie; last Crank @ Comic-Con (11:21) and More Stories from Crank (25:23) are 4K exclusives and are just some more footage and interviews from 2006.

VIDEO – 4.0/5

AUDIO – 4.5/5

OVERALL – 3.5/5

Crank is a fun and rather entertaining flick even with the frenetic (though I know it’s in keeping with the adrenaline theme) direction, though works mostly for Jason Statham who does well even with some limited character development as well as the lovely Amy Smart. This 4K Ultra HD combo pack comes with a so-so collection of features while the video/audio transfers were both well done.