Crank - mini-review

I am beginning to love Jason Statham.

The premise of Crank is that Chev (Jason Statham) is a contract killer in LA, and he wakes up groggy & blurry eyed after being poisoned by another bad dude. He discovers that adrenaline is the only way he can keep his heart pumping and stay alive. So he seeks adrenaline every way he can: doing drugs, picking fights, rock & roll, speeding his car and being chased by cops, and my personal favorite, having sex with his girlfriend in the middle of the street in Chinatown. So, if the description doesn't scare you off, you'll love it. The filmmakers have a wild different kind of style. They use split screens and wild cuts, and it feels like you're in the middle of a violent video game. There are in fact, a lot of video game references in the film. and Chev has told his girlfriend he is video game programmer. I found Jason's relationship with his sweet naive girlfriend just a riot. One minute he'll be cussing out someone on his cellphone, and his girlfriend will call, and his demeanor completely changes as he's gentle and soft with her. He screams as her answering machine answers one of his calls, and then calms down and says quietly, "Honey, please get a cell phone." It's quite violent in parts, too, but it was one 90 minute adrenaline rush! It's mindless trash, but if you're in the mood for this kind of thing, it gives a good ride. Jason Statham just has that perfect mix to play this part, too: determination, sweet love and protection of his girlfriend, and explosive violence at the drop of a hat. Three stars.

This was the first film of the writer director team of Brian Taylor and Mark Neveldine. Their film Game, starring Gerard Butler is due out in 2009. I wanted to get a taste of their style, and now I am really pumped for Game! Watch the trailer for Crank here.