CRANK 2: HIGH VOLTAGE (2009) REVIEW

It's been a while since my last review, this is due mainly to the fact that I've only been watching South Park for the last 2 weeks and have only this week returned to my DVDs and while trying to think of something to watch I decided to take a second look at the absurd adrenaline fuelled craziness that is CRANK 2: HIGH VOLTAGE. Find out what i thought of it....

!!!!!!!!!WARNING! SPOILERS AFTER THE JUMP!!!!!!!!!

With a oodles of DTV action movies that take up most of the shelves of your local Video store that include the 900th Steven Seagal movie in a month, it's refreshing when a film that is completely devoid of any fat martial artist or Euro-lensed action appears and not only is it absolutely mental but is also a sequel to an absolutely mental film. CRANK 2: HIGH VOLTAGE, takes the fasted paced OTT action and offensive language and imagery of the first and ups the ante to levels that go beyond the highest line. CRANK 2 is fasted paced, foul mouthed and violent as fuck and that ladies and gentlemen is why i love this film. 

THE PLOT.

Very much similar to the first film. After Somehow managing to survive falling from a helicopter, unstoppable hitman Chev Chelios is scooped of the tarmac, chucked into the back of a black van and driven away from the scene. He wakes up to find himself strapped onto a hospital bed with chinese surgeons removing his heart and replacing it with an artificial one. When he finally comes too, and over hears the chinese doctors saying that the next organ to be removed is his genitals, Chev doesn't like this and proceeds to kill the doctors. Strapped to his stomach is a battery pack that is keeping his artifical hear pumping, but the bars are going down as the battery runs out. It's now up to chev to get his heart back and  and kill who ever gets in his way, all the while trying to start his heart with electricity any way he can.

THE CAST:

JASON STATHAM as Chev Chelios

I have been a fan of this man since i first saw him in Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and have followed his career from that through Snatch, The Transporter movies, Death Race and The Expendables, even going as far as watching his lesser known films such as London, Chaos and Cellular, and everytime this man entertains me. Apparently he'd never acted before lock stock, but has since become the leading actor in the action genre, my only fear is that he'll end up in DTV hell as most action stars do. This man is beat known for two franchises, The Crank films where he plays the awesome Chev Chelios and The Transporter films where he plays the slightly more subdued Frank Martin, not many actors can say that they have two franchises on the go at the same time. The only other actor that comes to mind is Stallone with his Rocky and Rambo series of films. But This is about Crank 2, and Statham revels in this character. Chelios is efficient, ruthless and very very cockney and you can see that Statham embraces this in his performance. Is Chev a better character than Frank Martin? me thinks so...

For me Statham is the leading light in the current action genre and with a little vocal coaching Marvel need to put this man in the Daredevil costume.

AMY SMART as Eve 

I love Amy Smart, she's gorgeous, talented and has great comic timing. Films such as Road Trip and a personal fave of mine, Just Friends shows her talent for comedy but she's also a pretty good straight actress as seen in her roles in The Butterfly Effect and the lesser scene Val Kilmer flick Blind Horizon. Here she returns as Chev's long suffering girlfriend Eve, who finds out her BF is a Professional killer in the first film. In this film we are re-introduced to Eve as she does an erotic dance in a strip club, i say erotic, it shot like a gangsta music video. She believes Chev is dead and is now kind of dating mulletted loon Randy, played by the late Corey Haim, and when Chev enters the club, things kick off. 

EFREN RAMIREZ as Venus

Ah Efren Ramirez, i have a close connection  to this guy as his character in Napoleon Dynamite, gave birth to the name of the Blog, that's right Folks Ramirez played Pedro. Here he returns, but this time not as Kaylo from crank 1 but as Kaylo\s twin brother Venus who unfortunately sufferes from F.B.T, full body turret's, which causes him to convulse violently at random times. He's great in this just as he was in Crank 1.

DWIGHT YOAKAM as Doc Miles

Yoakam Returns as Doc Miles, but this time has a bit of a bigger part trying to figure out how to get Chev from A-B without dying. He has some very funny lines and is a great again as miles.  

BAI LING as Rai

OK Bai Ling, fucking mental. Looks like a crack whore but is crazy mental and has some brilliant comic moments. but still Abso-fucking-lutely mental....Gotta love Bai Ling. 

CLIFTON COLLINS J.R as El Huron

Another personal Faves of mine, Clifton Collins Jr is the go to guy for character actors. From his role as nervous inmate in Stuart Gordon's Fortress and his recent Role in the excellent Remake of the Excellent Das Experiment and as the new member of The Boondock Saints, Collins entertains me every time. another great performance from Collins is in the very underrated Renny Harlin thriller Mindhunters where he plays a wheelchair bound FBI profiler, here though, as latino head gangster El Huron aka The Ferret, Collins is great fun. I highly recommend seeking out this guy's filmography as he's a fantastic actor...

THE DIRECTION:

Brian Taylor and Marc Neveldine are leading the way in hyper stylized action cinema, not only with the two crank films but with the recent sci-fi actioner Gamer too. Here their visuals are very cool, very lttle CGI is used, it looks like quick set ups to get the adrenaline fuelled shots down the best they can. The use of mini HD hand held camera's to get some pretty tight shots such as following Chev as her manoeuvres around the metal crates at the start. So keep an eye on the Neveldine and Taylor as they're two directors to watch....

BTW this film needs to be seen because of the crazy Godzilla style fight between Chev and a Triad in an electric pylon factory.

THE MUSIC:

The music was composed, conducted, produced and edited by the musical genius that is Mike Patton of Faith No More, Mr. Bungle and Fantomas fame, and he uses a mixture of grungy techno, metal and various other genre's of music that adds alot to the frenetic pace of the film. 

MY FINAL VERDICT:

I loved the first one due to it's fast pace and bug nut's attitude, Crank 2 ups the ante and I love it. The fact the film starts at the end of the first and that it takes no time what so ever to get going. Statham is clearly having fun and there are some great cameo's in the film including the great John Delancy, Linkin Park's Chester  Bennington, the late David Carradine and strangely Geri Halliwell. But the film is great fun from start to finish and a great way to spend 100 minutes. Can't wait for a third film. Crank 2: High Voltage comes highly Recommended from Pedro....!!!!!!!!!!!!

MY SCORE:

Crank 2: High Voltage

FILM: 9/10 (great fun)