The 2006 summer movie season went out with a reasonable bang courtesy of "Crank", a jacked-up, unapologetically mindless bit of ADD-prescribed escapism that more or less delivers on a nifty premise.
With Jason Statham of "Transporter" fame commandingly in the driver's seat, the Lionsgate picture, which wasn't screened in advance for cranky critics, is tailor-made for young male audiences who view life as one big video game.
Sharing writing and directing chores are first-timers Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, former cinematographers who subsequently turned their attention to helming music videos and commercials.
That background gets put to rigorous use here, with Statham playing Chev Chelios, a professional killer who regains consciousness following a blow to the head, only to discover that he has been injected with a deadly poison that will stop his heart cold within an hour unless he can come up with ways to keep his adrenaline flowing long enough to search for a possible antidote.
As the remaining minutes of his life keep ticking by, Chelios tears through the streets of Los Angeles on an ephedrine-enhanced mission to find the thug Jose Pablo Cantillo) responsible for his grim predicament while hoping to buy a little time from his laid-back personal physician (Dwight Yoakam).
For at least the first half of the film, "Crank" plays out like an adrenaline junkie's wet dream, dishing out enough nonstop, high-octane tongue-in-cheek action to make TV's "24" look like "60 Minutes".
Unfortunately, Statham's Chelios proves to have greater staying power than the vehicle that carries him, and once it takes a detour to pick up his oblivious, bubble-headed girlfriend (Amy Smart), a good chunk of that giddy momentum is forever lost in the process.
But as long as Neveldine and Taylor keep things moving, the movie can be playfully addictive, with DP Adam Biddle and editor Brian Berdan doing their bit to keep that visual energy percolating.
The filmmakers also do well by a guilty pleasure song list that finds amusing uses for "Achy Breaky Heart" and Loverboy's "Turn Me Loose", while Google Maps obligingly tracks Statham's feverish trek through an HD-amped downtown Los Angeles.
Crank
Lionsgate
A Lakeshore Entertainment Group and Lionsgate Films production
Credits:
Directors-screenwriters: Mark Neveldine & Brian Taylor
Producers: Tom Rosenberg, Gary Lucchesi, Richard Wright, Skip Williamson, Michael Davis
Director of photography: Adam Biddle
Production designer: Jerry Fleming, Editor: Brian Berdan
Costume designer: Christopher Lawrence
Music: Paul Haslinger
Cast:
Chev: Jason Statham
Eve: Amy Smart
Verona: Jose Pablo Cantillo
Kaylo: Efren Ramirez
Doc Miles: Dwight Yoakam
Carlito: Carlos Sanz
MPAA rating R
Running time -- 83 minutes...
With Jason Statham of "Transporter" fame commandingly in the driver's seat, the Lionsgate picture, which wasn't screened in advance for cranky critics, is tailor-made for young male audiences who view life as one big video game.
Sharing writing and directing chores are first-timers Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, former cinematographers who subsequently turned their attention to helming music videos and commercials.
That background gets put to rigorous use here, with Statham playing Chev Chelios, a professional killer who regains consciousness following a blow to the head, only to discover that he has been injected with a deadly poison that will stop his heart cold within an hour unless he can come up with ways to keep his adrenaline flowing long enough to search for a possible antidote.
As the remaining minutes of his life keep ticking by, Chelios tears through the streets of Los Angeles on an ephedrine-enhanced mission to find the thug Jose Pablo Cantillo) responsible for his grim predicament while hoping to buy a little time from his laid-back personal physician (Dwight Yoakam).
For at least the first half of the film, "Crank" plays out like an adrenaline junkie's wet dream, dishing out enough nonstop, high-octane tongue-in-cheek action to make TV's "24" look like "60 Minutes".
Unfortunately, Statham's Chelios proves to have greater staying power than the vehicle that carries him, and once it takes a detour to pick up his oblivious, bubble-headed girlfriend (Amy Smart), a good chunk of that giddy momentum is forever lost in the process.
But as long as Neveldine and Taylor keep things moving, the movie can be playfully addictive, with DP Adam Biddle and editor Brian Berdan doing their bit to keep that visual energy percolating.
The filmmakers also do well by a guilty pleasure song list that finds amusing uses for "Achy Breaky Heart" and Loverboy's "Turn Me Loose", while Google Maps obligingly tracks Statham's feverish trek through an HD-amped downtown Los Angeles.
Crank
Lionsgate
A Lakeshore Entertainment Group and Lionsgate Films production
Credits:
Directors-screenwriters: Mark Neveldine & Brian Taylor
Producers: Tom Rosenberg, Gary Lucchesi, Richard Wright, Skip Williamson, Michael Davis
Director of photography: Adam Biddle
Production designer: Jerry Fleming, Editor: Brian Berdan
Costume designer: Christopher Lawrence
Music: Paul Haslinger
Cast:
Chev: Jason Statham
Eve: Amy Smart
Verona: Jose Pablo Cantillo
Kaylo: Efren Ramirez
Doc Miles: Dwight Yoakam
Carlito: Carlos Sanz
MPAA rating R
Running time -- 83 minutes...
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