? This cross-breeding
of Speed and Run Lola Run has one of the ultimate high-concept
action plots. Jason Statham (the Brit best known for the Transporter
movies) is a hit man who’s been injected with a “Beijing cocktail” that will
kill him unless he can keep adrenaline flowing through his system. Amy Smart
plays the girlfriend who’s in the dark about both his profession and his
unfortunate predicament.
+ One advantage of
the plot is that it allows Statham’s character to do all sorts of bad things
but still seem sympathetic. He’s got to snort cocaine, or drive his car through
a mall, for example, to keep the juice flowing through him long enough to seek
revenge. Variety in the action scenes and some editing tricks like split
screens will help you get past the silliness. So does some low-key humor, like
the way a cabbie’s radio plays “Achy Breaky Heart” as the hero’s own threatens
to quit on him. Crank is the same sort of enjoyable fluff as the Transporter
and its sequel, yet the surprising ending is very nearly existential.
- I’m pretty sure the
filmmakers didn’t spend a bundle on medical consultants, but you weren’t
expecting documentary reality here, were you? I did think the last third of the
movie could have been a little less violent, though that may not be every
action fan’s taste. The film also seemed too dark or muddy, even though most of
it takes place in daylight.
= *** A quick hit for
the action-movie junkie.
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