Crank 2: High Voltage - Thoughts

The first I heard of the Crank series was from a friend in London, who was telling me that if I liked Jason Statham action movies I should check-out Crank sometime. While I made a mental note to, I never really got around to it. During a recent long distance luxury cab ride, we decided to watch a movie while in transit and it so happened that the pick of the lot was Crank 2: High Voltage. In the sequel Statham falls out of a plane, survives, and then proceeds to hunts down gang members who harvested his organs while he was delirious. All of this off course is while he is using a temp artificial heart that needs electric recharging periodically to keep him going.


A frantic 96 minutes later, I had some mixed feelings about Crank 2. First off, its paced in a non-stop action sorta way, with no real break or slowdown. It’s certainly for a mature audience, as there’s plenty of violence, loads of abusive language, and a good measure of nudity. While not obvious, there is a humor element which adds to the mix well, and helps balance things out. Crank 2 succeeds at being entertaining, and turns a deaf year to reality. Though there are references to the first movie, and reappearing characters, entering the Crank franchise directly at part 2, a.k.a. High Voltage is quite fine. If you’re in the mood for almost mindless entertainment, with very little realism Crank 2 is worth the watch, but if you’re looking to be gripped with an intense plot and something that will make you think, rest assured Crank 2 will be disappointing.

Jason Statham plays Chev Chelios, a very charged and aggressive anti-hero style protagonist. He comes across as driven with very little concerns for the world around him. I’m guessing that shoot first, think later was how the character was written out to be, and Statham succeeds at that. Amy Smart plays Eve Lydon, Chev Chelios’s stripper girlfriend. She too comes off as crazy and edgy, and a convincing partner to Chelios. Having only seen her in Road Trip previously, where she plays a very typical teenager, Amy Smart shows good range in the kind of characters she can play. Art Hsu plays one of the nut-job villains Johnny Vang; while not the most intimidating, he does make for a moderately worthy adversary. Besides, he is only 1 of many villains. Efren Ramirez plays Venus, a questionable and somewhat feminine man. Suffering from Tourette’s, he too is extreme in his portrayal. Pretty much all the characters in Crank 2 are over the top and bordering crazy.

I watched Crank 2 on a mini LCD display while travelling in a luxury cab. Thus the test medium wasn’t great, but that said picture quality seemed pretty decent. The DVD was a copy made from an original Asian Multi Region DVD. There was no pixilation or obvious deterioration in video. As expected with Multi Region DVD’s, there was very minimal loss in color vibrancy. The sound system in use was a standard stereo speaker setup. The audio experience was excessively limited, and the soundtrack could not be analyzed much. For most part dialogue was clear, and the action sequences were complemented with good supporting sound effects.

My Recommendation: Dicey (You may enjoy it, or be left with the feeling of wanting to throw your television out the window)