This fast paced and violent action film packs as many chuckles as it does knuckles
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The writer/directing duo of "Crank" is Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor. If you haven´t heard of them before, that is to be expected since their previous credits include Cinematography and working as camera operators. "Crank" is their first directorial effort and the pair who are credited as Neveldine/Taylor decided to write a story that was driven by a desire to create cool camera effects and try some things visually that haven´t been tried before. They decided that the coolest thing would be to make a film based upon a character who is on a massive adrenaline rush for the entire film. After sitting down for a few days and discussing their ideas, they came up with the screenplay and concept for "Crank." After shopping around, they attracted Lionsgate and British actor Jason Statham. What was conceived based upon camera shots made more than twice its budget in theatrical receipts, so they apparently were onto something.
The real reason to watch "Crank" is not for the unusual camera tricks, angles and techniques. The real reason is to see Jason Statham kicking some tail end. The actor rose to fame with roles in the cult classics "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrles" and "Snatch." He then went on to star in two "Transporter," "Revolver" and the "Italian Job" films. The British actor plays a great tough guy and any time he gets to shoot people or rough somebody up, it could be considered a good time and fortunately, "Crank" is a good time. The film moves quickly. It is a fast paced action film that combines comedic elements, original storytelling and great acting. With Amy Smart (Road Trip), Efren Ramirez (Napolean Dynamite) and country singer Dwight Yoakam (Swing Blade) taking supporting roles, the first time directors pulled together a good cast and got good performances from them.
The story is about a professional hitman, Chevy Chelios (Statham) who is injected with a deadly poison by a rival professional named Verona (Jose Pablo Cantillo). Chev contacts his doctor, Doctor Miles (Yoakam) and discovers that by keeping his heartrate and adrenaline up he can avoid the certain death that confronts him and live long enough to seek revenge against Verona. Part of his final moments are to confront his girlfriend Eve (Smart) and tell her that he is not a video game programmer, but that he kills people for a living. Chev will do anything possible to stay alive longer. He will randomly beat up thugs, consume massive amounts of Red Bull and force his girlfriend into sex in the middle of a large public area. In the end, Chev discovers that his girlfriend still loves him, regardless of his profession and he gets revenge on both Verona and a few double-crossing friends.
"Crank" is full of action and comedy. The dialogue is surprisingly witty for the first time screenwriters and Stathan, who enjoyed working on the film, is unhinged and allowed to be as vulgar and brutal as he wants to be. Efren Ramirez is great in a role that goes against the typecast he had previously seen in "Napolean Dynamite" and "Employee of the Month." As the movie speeds through its relatively short running time of 87 minutes, the two directors successfully bring their visual dreams to life and it greatly benefits the action seen on the screen. The film´s creators were influenced by video games and certain elements such as overhead maps and images of Chev´s heart are infused into the film and do give it an MTV generation feel. I´m not always impressed with overly fast cutting and trick visuals that make a film feel more like a music video than a cinematic production, but with "Crank," it is done in a manner befitting the film. With Statham at the top of his game, this is a very enjoyable and violent film that is perhaps the actors best work yet.
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The first time filmmakers had fully intended "Crank" to be a showcase for camera angles and techniques that are either not very commonly used or have never before been seen. They wanted it to be a visually frenetic film and you really could say that "Crank" is a cinematographer´s dream – as it truly was. Filmed with Sony High Definition cameras, "Crank" translates wonderfully to Blu-ray and 1080p high definition with a good MPEG-2 1.85:1 transfer. With the dynamic directing duo trying to make the film visually different, "Crank" finds itself displaying a plethora of visual styles. Colors and contract are intentionally altered to give certain scenes different looks. Filters are used and I imagine if the filmmakers had an idea of how to distort a scene visually, they just went with it. Many split screen shots are used and when Chev starts to fall to the poison, the lens goes insane. However, when they are allowed to be, colors are magnificent and the level of detail is amazing. Every weathered mark in Statham´s face can be seen. Every hair of his scruff can be seen in fine detail. This high definition picture is clean and quite stunning and this may be Lionsgate´s best effort thus far.
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[release]20431[/release]