Directors: Mark Neveldine (Crank), Brian Taylor (Crank)Cast: Jason Statham (Crank, The Transporter), Amy Smart (Crank, Just Friends), Dwight Yoakam (Crank, Panic Room), Efren Ramirez (Crank, Napoleon Dynamite), Art Hsu, Ling Bai, Clifton Collins Jr., David Carradine (Kill Bill)
The Deal: Thought to be dead, Chev Chelios (Statham) survives a fall from a helicopter, but awakens to find that a Chinese mobster has taken taken his "indestructible" heart and replaced it with a battery-powered ticker. Chev must hunt down and retrieve his heart, but the battery on his new ticker requires frequent jolts of electricity to keep it running. Set on finishing the job, Chev will do anything to keep his heart going.
Thoughts: This is an adrenaline-fueled, action-happy thrill ride from start to finish. The action sequences are cool and increasingly more ridiculous than the last. I knew this was not a serious film going in, but even with that knowledge, the fact-paced action fails to save the film. It's hopped up on too much adrenaline for its own good, so the plot becomes very wild and erratic, struggling to make much sense at most times.
I can't really rip on the acting in this film, as there really wasn't any real acting required. Statham continues to thrive in this type of role, playing characters that are completely bad-ass despite their ridiculousness. I continue to wonder why Amy Smart appears in these. All her character is meant to do is wear nothing, have sex, and get beaten up. They could get anyone to do this, so I don't know why she has decided to add this role to her resume. Efren Ramirez is a throwaway character meant for comedic relief yet also intended to be badass. The combination doesn't really work.
As I said before, the action sequences were cool. It was interesting to see the different ways Chev would get his jolt of electricity, and some of them were quite clever. I especially liked the use of the taser and how the cops unknowingly re-charged their captive. Unfortunately, the film was not made up entirely of cool action sequences, and the remaining parts were quite stupid. I knew what this was going in, and I still feel dumber after seeing it.
Verdict: Though some of the actions sequences were both exciting and creative, the rest of the film is mostly rubbish. If you paid money to see this in theaters, I'm sorry. If you're thinking of renting this, wait until it's on cable. ☆☆
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