When I decided to see Crank, directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, I thought I would be getting a classic action movie, having heard it described as Speed with a twist.

In reality, Crank was more akin to Kill Bill and Domino's demon offspring on drugs. The movie begins with Statham's character, Chev Chelios, waking to find he has been poisoned with a powerful drug that affects his adrenal glands. This has been done out of revenge for Statham's assassination of a gang leader.

He soon discovers the only way his body can fight the drug is to keep his adrenaline level high while he searches for an antidote. He proceeds to try to do this by robbing a convenience store, standing on a moving motorcycle, snorting coke off a dirty bathroom floor and -- most memorably -- by having sex with his girlfriend in the middle of a crowded marketplace in Chinatown.

However, the high points of the film really come later, when he decides that if he is going to die, he wants revenge first. The result is a gory blood-fest, in the likes that I haven't seen since Sin City.

For example, Statham at one point slices off his opponent's hand with a meat cleaver. He then proceeds to use the gun that the hacked off hand is still gripping to blow a hole in the other guy's brain. The audience then gets a nice view of the splattered chunks of brain matter on Statham's friend. This was at the point in the movie where I was alternating between covering my eyes and gaping, mystified, at the screen.

The movie continues to follow Statham through his day of revenge killings and adrenaline-junkie antics, to a conclusion that, without ruining anything, is in the same vein as the rest of the movie.

The plot is very weak although they try to throw in some cheap twists, and the movie is really dependent on the shock and awe tactics of the writer/directors.

Some people might walk out of the movie and think it was an innovative and original action movie that didn't pander to blockbuster formulas. Don't let that fool you -- the originality of Crank, which comes mainly from the interesting directing, is overshadowed by its horrifically gory and disturbing scenes.

However, the acting was surprisingly good, with a great performance by Amy Smart (Just Friends) as Statham's delightfully oblivious and ditzy girlfriend. The stunts were visually impressive, as well.

There was also some witty, albeit dark, humor thrown in, namely through the characters of Statham's cross-dressing associate and his mellow sex-addict doctor.

Though it's not the amusing quips you will walk out of the theater remembering, it's the image of that associate brushing bits of brain and skull off his shoulders. Or maybe it will be the glimpses of Statham's naked backside that will stick with you. Grade: D-

-- Reviewed by Brianna Labuskes