Director: Mark Neveldine & Brian Taylor
Starring: Jason Statham, Amy Smart & Dwight Yoakam
An entertaining sequel that takes the first film’s, already implausible, plotline and amplifies it considerably. It is louder with more action, more insanity though its weaknesses as well as strengths are exaggerated too.
Crank was an unlikely cult hit upon its release. Filmed on a low budget and based on premise that was implausible even for the action genre, it nevertheless entertained many fans of the genre in its unapologetic embrace of action films, coincidences, unstoppable heroes and ever growing action set pieces. However, since the first Crank did eventually end with its hero, Chev Chelios (Statham) dying after falling from a helicopter, it was assumed that there would be no room for a sequel featuring this character. Not so. With a maneuver that resurrects Chelios in its opening scenes that is more implausible than the first film in its entirety, Crank: High Voltage sets the standard for an action film where anything can, and does, happen.
How much enjoyment you get out of Crank: High Voltage depends upon how much realism you expect from your action film. If the answer is not much, of that it doesn’t matter if the action is entertaining, then the film will certainly entertain. Chev Chelios survives his ‘death’ at the end of the first film when Chinese gangsters replace his heart with an artificial model that requires and electrical charge to keep working whilst his own, original, heart being donated to aging kingpin. With the artificial heart only designed for temporary use, Chelios escapes capture and must now locate his heart before his replacement breaks down, a situation that can be delayed through regular electrical charges. This, of course, leads to many humorous moments where Chelios must attach cables from car batteries, power stations and electrical boxes to maintain his artificial heart and even resorting to the static electrical charge from rubbing himself against strangers or having sex with his girlfriend Eve (Smart) in a public place, yet again.
As humorous as some of these situations are, they are made more humorous by the absolute conviction with which Chelios accepts this reality and in the tongue-in-cheek jokes at the plot’s implausibility that is made by several of its other cast members (a TV News Reporter makes a few appearances to report on the events of the day with a wink to audiences). Crank: High Voltage even goes so far as to insert dream sequences and hallucinations experienced by Chelios while super-charged. A flashback to his youth, presented on a TV Talk Show, is extremely amusing by its casting of Chelios’ mother whilst one hallucination has Chelios sees himself fighting as giant in a power station that recalls battles from Godzilla films.
However, while the action sequences the bigger and more implausible, yet also entertaining, the weaknesses of the first Crank are also carried over and exaggerated in Crank: High Voltage too. Whilst the dialogue in Crank: High Voltage is not expected to be particularly insightful or original, it does rely on racial stereotyping and racist language far too often. Sometimes this language can be used playfully, generating a chuckle, it more often quite offensive. On top of the frequently offensive language is the, too frequent, reliance upon stereotypes, particularly racial stereotypes. One character, played by Bai Ling, is frequently annoying in her performance but more so by her dialogue which, aside from a funny joke involving Kevin Costner, stands out as enforcing an unpleasant stereotype. Crank: High Voltage also portrays women as little more than sexual eye candy (prostitutes, strippers and damsels in distress).
Overall, Crank: High Voltage is sufficiently entertaining in its embrace of its ridiculous premise with action sequences that entertain in their originality as well as in the humor that can be found in them, however now every crazy character or situation works and the frequently offensive stereotypes and dialogue threaten to distract from the film’s entertainment a little too frequently. Fans of the first Crank should enjoy the film, though it isn’t for the easily offended.
Rating: 3/5
