Movie Review: Crank

5/10A

You know, again it is the case that this particular example of mental film-making is so aware of its limitations, so glories in its excesses and so exceeds all conceivable limits of tasteful understatement it is hard to give it anything other than a cautious endorsement.

Lets be clear from the start - this is not a mature film. It is not one that you will walk away from feeling your time was well spent in a culturally bettering way or with a better understanding of the human condition.

It follows the fabulously monickered Chev Chelios (Jason Statham) who wakes up to find that he has been poisoned, and he decides to go out and get revenge on his killer before the venom finishes him off.

This is vaguely reminiscent of an old movie I recall, made in the fifties or sixties called, I believe, DOA, in which a man comes to police station in a similarly terminal condition and tries to lead the police to his killers before he expires.

Crank is nowhere near so civically or legally minded.

To stave off the effects of the drug, Chelios is forced to keep his heart rate up, doing this through the effects of hard drugs, destructive and ridiculous car chases, punch ups and in one memorable instance, sex with his doped up girlfriend in the middle of a public square in Chinatown.

For this reason it is hard to really sympathise with the crazy self destruction of Statham's character, and "The Stath" is hardly the most sympathetic of actors anyway, coming over more like one of the carcasses of meat Rocky used to punch, rather than Balboa himself.

Still, it's an enjoyable thrill ride in the same vein as the likewise plot-deficient Shoot-Em-Up, and while I preferred the latter film mainly because of its cast (Clive Owen and Paul Giamatti) that knocks the socks off this one.

It's still an enjoyable way to spend some time, and follows through with its plot to the logical conclusion.

A