When Jason Statham blinked after falling hundreds of feet from a helicopter at the end of Crank, people everywhere thought to themselves, 'There's no way they're going to make a sequel to this.'
But three years after Statham's Chev Chelios eluded death by Chinese poison, he's back. Crank: High Voltage replaces some of the silly fun of its predecessor with more graphic violence and nudity. It uses the same camp-tastic conventions that made the first film so ridiculous, but they don't feel as shocking or as fun the second time around.
When we are reunited with Chelios, his organs, and for some reason his penis, are about to be harvested by Chinese gangsters. Statham isn't having that. He immediately jumps from the operating table and begins chasing after the bastards.
Chelios once again fights his way though Los Angeles as he tries to retrieve his real heart, which has been replaced with a temporary mechanical one. Along the way, he beats up gangsters, meets up with his stripper girlfriend (Amy Smart) and seeks advice from doctor/pimp Doc Miles (Dwight Yoakam).
Jason Statham is basically a gigantic, British cartoon character. His repertoire of increasingly violent tricks is straight out of a psychotic, perverted episode of Looney Tunes. This time, Statham's rage is channeled through increasingly violent acts such as putting an electric dog collar on himself and forcing people to shock him with it.
Visually, Crank 2 doesn't stray far from its predecessor. New locations are still introduced with Google Earth screen grabs. A strange amalgamation of Korean pop, '80s synth and Motown comprises the film's strange soundtrack. Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington makes yet another awkward cameo. And Statham and Smart's characters have public sex, again.
One of the most amusing aspects of the movie is that almost every actor from the first one manages to show up in the sequel, whether or not their character lived through the first film.
Crank 2 is too violent -- unless watching someone cut off their own nipples is your cup of tea -- and it's got more nudity than a lot of pornography. It's also tenser and angrier than the original Crank. Crank is not the kind of movie that screams "I need a sequel," but the filmmakers probably couldn't have done better than they did with what they had.
Despite this, the joy of Crank, and of Crank 2 is watching Statham expertly sell the hundreds of ridiculous moments squeezed into the 90-minute film.
Don't get me wrong. Crank 2 does not live up to what most people would think of as a good movie. It's filled with gratuitous sex and violence. The plot often doesn't make sense. Much of the acting is sketchy. But rent the first Crank for $2. If you like it, Crank 2 is well worth the extra $10.
Grade: C
