I walked into "Crank" with low expectations, as I do with many films. The previews made it look like it had a clever story, but I was worried that with Jason Statham playing lead, I might just get a re-hash of his "Transporter" films.
I got a pleasant surprise. From the very beginning, the film moves. And moves damn fast. Not in an obnoxious way either. In the first minutes of the film we are set up with a possible story of corruption between hit men, a botched job, and the set-up for the whole movie-- Statham's Chev Chelios being fatally poisoned with a Chinese-made serum that slows his heart rate, and will eventually literally make his heart stop, killing him. The only solution-- get the adrenaline pumping and keep his heart rate up! The whole movie is like one long action sequence, with pauses for story elements. This is the common thing now in films, but in other movies, it generally doesn't work so well. But, with the premise of "Crank" being the need for speed (Literally), the idea of all-action, little-plot actually works. And works well.
However, don't be mistaken, there is genuine plot in the film. Clever stories about the pasts and workings of crime-lords and their cronies, and how they all relate to Chelios. Some of it went over my head because of the constant action, but I was able to understand everything enough to enjoy the film.
The direction and editing is something I want to talk about briefly before I wrap this up. For a film like this, one would expect flashy camera work and crazy fast cutting, but I must say, the director/writer and the editor went beyond the call of duty. The film is shot as though the cameraman himself was the one who was poisoned, with the camera flashing and moving around nearly constantly, only settling during the slow scenes. Quite a genius use of camera-work to emulate the story. And the editing certainly adds a lot to the already excellent camera work. We get cutting when necessary and when not necessary, to further illustrate the needs of the main character.
Overall, I would say "Crank" was the coolest movie I've seen in the last several years, leaps and bounds beyond the standard Hollywood action flick. I would recommend to any action-fan or adrenaline junkie, because take it from me, this film is the ultimate rush!
