Movie Review: Crank 2

more images

Crank 2: High Voltage: Better left avoided

Rating: 1.5 out of 5*

Starring: Jason Statham, Amy Smart, David Carradine, Clifton Collins Jr and Efren Ramierz

Directors: Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor

August 27, 2010 (Sampurn Wire):Crank 2: High Voltage starts off with an extract from a arcade video game showing Chev Chelios’ (Jason Statham) certain-death plunge during the final moments of the 2006 prequel Crank. The following scene shows Chev Chelios being abducted by Chinese goons. He has been scooped off the street and kept alive for organ harvest by Chinese doctors working in the back of a Chinatown brothel. Chev wakes up in a makeshift hospital and sees doctors removing his heart while Johnny Vang (Art Hsu) watches. The doctors place Chev’s heart in a red cooler with a padlock, and place a clear plastic artificial heart in his chest as Chev passes out. After gaining consciousness, Chev finds a battery pack attached to his heart and few doctors planning to arvest his other organs too. He escapes, knowing only the name of the guy who has his real heart. He manages to contact Doc Miles, an unlicensed cardiologist, who explains him that his artificial heart is driven by a battery pack. Once the external battery pack runs out, the internal battery will kick in and he will have one hour before it stops working. So all Chev has to do now is to keep his the battery charged at all times and in the mean time find Johnny Vang the guy who has his heart. His search leads him to a strip club where he meets his girlfriend Eve Lydon (Amy Smart). And eventually learns that 3 months have passed since the day he fell from the helicopter.

He continues his crazy journey to find his heart and on the way finds newer way to keep himself charged up. On the way he has to deal with cops who try a Taser gun on him, prostitutes and local mafia. Doc Miles keeps him pepped up with timely updates and Chev eventually finds out that his heart was meant to be transplanted into a 100 year old Chinese mafia lord. His journey takes a new turn but his style doesn’t change. The movie also shows Chevs violent past as a 12 year old kid with a comic touch to it.

Crank 2 keeps on rolling at such a supersonic pace that even the audience can feel the rush and the high of this roller coaster ride. But all this dies down when one tries to find some sense and direction between all the slam-bang. Strippers and prostitutes are thrown in at regular intervals in an attempt to slow down the pace of the movie. The film manages to be funny at times with colorful characters, amateur animation, and sub-titles. Film ends with a more or less Bollywood - fashioned climax which adds to the dullness. The movie appears more to be a ridiculous adaptation of the Grand Theft Auto video game series and the directors make sure that it is presented in a similar manner. Crank 2: High Voltage administers regular shocks — lest people’s brains get bogged down in the messy plot. The result is gory display of flesh and blood.

There is chaos around, gross characters on show and Jason Statham himself doesn’t disappoint in senseless display or vulgarity. Amy Smart hardly has anything much to do. The rest of the cast fits perfect in their parts though. David Carradine seems to be enjoying himself.

Crank 2 lacks sense, or any kind of respect for the script, direction or acting. At the end of the day it remains a crazy, fast-paced, racy movie for teenagers who will gawk at every scene, branding it as cool. As far as grown-ups are concerned they will be better off avoiding this movie.

– Sampurn Wire