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Crank: High Voltage

 
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Crank High Voltage

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  • Directors: Mark Neveldine; Brian Taylor
  • AMG Rating: starstarstar
  • Genre: Action
  • Movie Type: Action Thriller
  • Themes: Race Against Time, Hired Killers
  • Main Cast: Jason Statham, Amy Smart, Clifton Collins, Jr., Efren Ramirez, Bai Ling, Dwight Yoakam
  • Release Year: 2009
  • Country: US
  • Run Time: 85 minutes
  • MPAA Rating: R

Plot

The indestructible hopped-up hitman Chev Chelios, played to the hilt once again by Jason Statham, returns in Crank High Voltage, picking up where the first film left off -- except this time, Chelios is chasing a Chinese gangster who hijacked his heart and substituted it with a mechanical one that needs to be jolted with an electric charge to stay pumping. Back for the fun is Chev's girlfriend Eve (my Smart) and his physician Doc Miles (Dwight Yoakam), who, as luck has it, turns out to be an ex-heart surgeon. As Chelios delves deeper into the mystery surrounding his stolen heart, he discovers that the answers to his questions lie within the chest of a 100-year old head of the Triad gang, Poon Dong (David Carradine. The maverick directing/writing team of Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor returns to inject more caffeinated craziness into Lionsgate's burgeoning action series, with Efren Ramirez, Bai Ling, Clifton Collins Jr., and Corey Haim rounding out the supporting cast. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide

Review

Juiced-up insanity reigns supreme in this follow-up to 2006's over-the-top Jason Statham action bonanza that has thrown audiences into fist-pumping frenzies. This time, the adrenalized formula is even more unpredictable, with twists, turns, curves, and splurges taking the viewer on a roller-coaster ride unlike any other. No doubt about it, this is the equivalent of free jazz for the ADD-addled American class of cinemaniacs looking for the newest fix of in-your-face entertainment -- which means the meek-hearted should not apply. Like a cinematic speedball straight to the jugular, Crank High Voltage proves that this series is the King of No Rules Cinema, a rare film that treats its constituents to an experience akin to a roller coaster about to go off the rails at any point. Unpredictable, unhinged, and completely unconcerned with whom it may offend, the sequel draws a line between generational gaps of ticket buyers and whizzes in the face of those who aren't already sold on the exploits of Mr. Chev Chelios, the man with the indestructible heart.

When audiences last saw Chev (Jason Statham), he had beaten his foe in a midair fight after jumping out of a helicopter. While still in freefall, the former hitman made one last call to his girlfriend Eve's (Amy Smart) answering machine, admitting to all of the misdeeds he had done before going splat on the pavement, and winking just afterward to leave people wondering if he was still alive. Well wonder no more! Part 2 opens with a gang literally shoveling him off the street and locking him away for three months, during which time his heart is taken out and replaced with an electrically charged one. Now, outfitted with a battery pack and revenge on his mind, Chev once again heads out into Los Angeles in search of his plus-sized ticker, with his buddy Doc Miles (Dwight Yoakam) just a phone call away ready to fix him back up to live and die another day.

If you think the plot is ridiculous, it's because it is. So far, both Crank films have thrived on absurdity, which is okay since nothing is taken too seriously in either of them. What filmmakers Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor do take seriously is a yearning to shake things up -- both in style and in structure. This is moviemaking in its purest, most punk-rock sense. Shooting Crank 2 with consumer-grade cameras (some/most of which were destroyed during the shoot), the duo seems to have hijacked Hollywood with their fearless attitude, a contagion that has seemingly seeped into the talent in front of their lenses as well. For his part, Statham doesn't bat an eye through all of the insanity that his leaders have cooked up for him. The same goes for Amy Smart, who takes on the follow-up with a strength and air of sexuality merely hinted at in the first film. Even David Carradine joins in on the fun (looking straight out of Big Trouble in Little China as he does it), filling the role of a sadly underused villain who still adds enough wildness to help carry the colorful supporting cast, which includes Bai Ling, Corey Haim, and Efren Ramirez.

New to the Crank scene is musician Mike Patton, whose love for both hard-driving rock and classic film scores gives the film exactly the kind of manic metal-meets-Ennio Morricone aesthetic that fits perfectly with the film's jarring style. With the help of Patton and everyone who was game enough to go along with this wild ride, High Voltage effectively raises the bar for what can be done when madmen take the helm of a studio picture. Loud enough to blow your eardrums, with enough frenzied visuals to keep your eyes bolted to the big screen, Crank 2 is a testimonial for no-holds-barred outrageous cinema -- a fact that should whole-heartedly please its open-armed admirers. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide

Cast

David Carradine - Poon Dong; Reno Wilson - Orlando; Joseph Julian Soria - Chico; Corey Haim - Randy

Credit

Kelly Wagner - Casting, Dayna Pink - Costume Designer, Mark Neveldine - Director, Brian Taylor - Director, Fernando Villena - Editor, Michael Paseornek - Executive Producer, David Scott Rubin - Executive Producer, James McQuaide - Executive Producer, Peter Block - Executive Producer, Michael Davis - Executive Producer, Eric Reid - Executive Producer, Mike Patton - Composer (Music Score), Jerry Fleming - Production Designer, Brandon Trost - Cinematographer, Tom Rosenberg - Producer, Gary Lucchesi - Producer, Richard S. Wright - Producer, Skip Williamson - Producer, Mark Neveldine - Screenwriter, Brian Taylor - Screenwriter, Aaron Millar - Assistant Location Manager, Aaron Millar - Location Scout

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Wikipedia: Crank: High Voltage
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Crank: High Voltage

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Neveldine/Taylor
Produced by Michael Paseornek
Tom Rosenberg
Gary Lucchesi
Skip Williamson
Richard Wright
David Rubin
Written by Neveldine/Taylor
Starring Jason Statham
Amy Smart
Music by Mike Patton
Cinematography Brandon Trost
Editing by Fernando Villena
Distributed by Lionsgate Films (US)
Lakeshore Entertainment (international)
Release date(s) United Kingdom:
April 16, 2009
United States:
April 17, 2009
Running time 96 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget US$12,900,000
Gross revenue $34,447,368 (worldwide) [1]
Preceded by Crank

Crank: High Voltage (released as Crank 2: High Voltage in some regions and on DVD) is a 2009 American action/thriller film, and sequel to the 2006 action film, Crank. It picks up shortly after the first film left off, retaining its "real-time" feel and adding surrealism. Crank: High Voltage was written and directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, who both wrote and directed the previous film. The film was released in the United Kingdom on April 16, 2009,[2] one day prior to its North American release date.

Contents

Plot

The film opens with a sequence designed to look like a classic video game, depicting Chev Chelios's fall from a helicopter during the final moments of the original film. Immediately after his fall, he is scooped off the street via snow shovel by a group of Chinese medics and removed from the scene.

He wakes up in a makeshift hospital and sees doctors removing his heart while Johnny Vang (Art Hsu) watches. The doctors place Chelios's heart in a white cooler with a padlock, and place a clear plastic artificial heart in his chest. Chelios passes out. He wakes up, and escapes. He notices a yellow battery pack is attached to him. After a gunfight and interrogation of a thug, he learns the location of Johnny Vang - the Cypress Social Club.

Chelios calls Doc Miles (Dwight Yoakam), who tells him that he has been fitted with an AbioCor Artificial heart. Once the external battery pack runs out, the internal battery will kick in and he will have 60 minutes before it stops working. He crashes his car right after the conversation, destroying his external battery pack. In order to keep going, Chelios has the driver of another car use his jumper cables on him, and runs to the Club.

He loses Vang at the club but picks up a hooker named Ria (Bai Ling) who sends him to a strip club where Vang is hiding out. In the club, Chev finds Eve, now a stripper.

Back outside of the strip club, Chev is met by a group of police, who begin beating him down. He is weakened, but one of them inadvertently charges Chelios by using a stun gun on him. Another stripper tells Chelios that he should look at the Hollywood horse racetrack for Johnny Vang. They encounter a group of porn stars protesting low wages, and Chelios is forced to escape, leaving Eve in the back of the cop car. Chelios is picked up by Venus (Efren Ramirez), who reveals himself to be Kaylo's brother. It is revealed he also has Tourette's Syndrome. At first, Chelios tells Venus that he killed everyone responsible for his brother's death, but this prompts Venus to leave. Wanting his help, Chelios tells Venus that El Huron was involved but escaped.

At the horse tracks, Chelios is losing energy. He learns that the heart can be charged through the skin by means of friction. Eve shows up and they have sex on the racetrack while the crowd cheers, and Chelios is restored to full energy. Chelios spots Vang and once again leaves Eve behind. Vang escapes, and Chev is about to be subdued by security when Don Kim picks Chev up in his limo. He informs Chev that there is a leader in the Triads named Poon Dong (David Carradine), who was in need of a heart transplant. When he heard of Chelios's ability to withstand the Chinese adrenaline poison, he put out an order for Chelios's heart. Don Kim then tells Chev Chelios that he wishes to return him to Poon Dong for a reward. Upon hearing this, Chev kills all of Don Kim's henchmen, including the limo driver, and shoots Don Kim several times. Meanwhile, Eve is arrested, and Venus calls in Orlando (Reno Wilson) to assist in tracking down El Huron.

While driving, Chev is cut off by an ambulance. He boards the ambulance and is surprised to see the EMTs are working on Don Kim. He demands a new battery pack for his artificial heart, and the EMT is forced to stop working while he hooks it up. Don Kim dies, and Chelios exits the ambulance upon seeing Johnny Vang on the street outside. Vang tries to escape in a car, but the car drives off without him, and Chev chases Vang to an electric plant, where there is a Godzilla-inspired fight between Chelios and Vang. Upon winning, Chev discovers that Vang's red cooler holds something other than his heart (the contents of which are unknown, but make Chelios recoil in disgust). Chelios learns from Doc Miles that his heart is already transplanted into Poon Dong, but promises to find him for Chev. Chelios goes to ask Johnny Vang, but Johnny Vang is shot and killed by Chico, and they knock Chelios unconscious.

There is a dream sequence showing Chelios as a youngster, with his mother (Geri Halliwell) on the Luke Canard show talking about his violent tendencies as a boy. Eve is interrogated by police, but refuses to rat Chev out. Doc Miles uses his assistant Chocolate to lure Poon Dong in, and knocks him out.

Chelios is awakened by electric shocks to his testicles, and is dragged by speedboat to an island where El Huron awaits. El Huron explains to Chev that he is the third Verona brother, and is very upset that Chelios killed Ricky (Jose Pablo Cantillo) and Alex Verona (Jay Xcala). He reveals Ricky Verona's head being kept alive in a tank by a group of scientists, speaking in an electronic voice. Chelios is whipped for Verona's pleasure, and is about to die when Orlando, Venus, and Ria show up, each with their own group of gunfighters, and chaos breaks out.

Verona's tank is smashed open by Ria's gunfire and Chev kicks Verona's head into the swimming pool but starts to slow down. He climbs an electric pylon nearby and grabs the insulators to recharge, but is flung off of it upon contact. Venus is fighting El Huron and is about to lose when Chev reappears, still partially on fire from the electricity. He beats El Huron to death (while still burning), and throws his body in the pool next to Ricky's head. In a hallucinogenic state, Chelios then tries to hug Ria (thinking she is Eve) but accidentally sets her on fire as well, and she runs off screaming. His flesh burning and his face melting, Chelios walks towards the camera, giving the middle finger to the audience in the final moment of the film.

During the credits, Doc Miles places Chev Chelios's heart back in. At first, it looks like a failure, but after everyone leaves, Chelios's eyes open, and his heart is heard beating.

Cast

Main article: List of Crank characters

Former child actor Corey Haim has a supporting role in the film. Also appearing in the film are porn stars Ron Jeremy, Ed Powers, Jenna Haze, Nick Manning, Lexington Steele, Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia star Glenn Howerton, both of whom had appearances in the first film, Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan, former Nine Inch Nails member Danny Lohner, pop star Geri Halliwell (who appears in a flashback sequence), UFC fighter Keith Jardine, actress Lauren Holly and the founder of Troma, Lloyd Kaufman. John de Lancie, of Star Trek: The Next Generation fame, also appears at the start of the film as the newscaster.

Production

Mike Patton, of Faith No More and Mr. Bungle fame, produced the score for Crank: High Voltage.

Lions Gate Entertainment handled North American distribution of the film, while Lakeshore Entertainment handled international distribution.

Filming started in April 2008. Like the first film, the production budget was lower than $20 million. In order to help keep costs low, the filmmakers took advantage of low-cost prosumer HDV cameras such as the Canon XH-A1, as well as a consumer model, the Canon HF10.[3]

Crank: High Voltage received an R rating by the MPAA based on an interview with Amy Smart. She was photographed brandishing taped nipples and disclosed that her character Eve has become a pole dancer.[4][5]

Soundtrack

Linkin Park's song, "Given Up", was featured in the trailer for the movie, but not in the movie itself (lead singer Chester Bennington has a cameo in both films). Furthermore, one of Linkin Park's earlier songs was also entitled "High Voltage". Coincidentally (or not) the title of Crank 2. The majority of the soundtrack was done by Mike Patton.[6] The soundtrack received an "Incredible" 9.5/10 from IGN.

Original songs not scored by Mike Patton that appear in the film are as follows:

Reception

Reviews for Crank: High Voltage have been mixed to positive. The film has a rating of 62% on the film review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes (a higher percentage than the original).[7] However, Metacritic cited a score of 47 out of 100, based on 12 reviews.[8] Crank 2 failed to score in the box office in its first week, ending at #6 with $6,510,000 in 2223 theaters, although its predecessor only opened with $10 million.

Box office

Crank: High Voltage opened with $2.7 million on its opening day. It earned $6,963,565 on its first weekend at #6 at the box office. Overall the film made $13,684,249 at the domestic box office and $20,763,119 as of November 20, 2009 in foreign box offices totaling up to $34,447,368 worldwide.

Home media

Crank: High Voltage was released on DVD and Blu-ray on September 8, 2009 in the United States. At the DVD sales chart, Crank opened at #2, selling 305,000 units which translates to $5,345,078 in revenue. As of the 4th week, 540,500 units have been sold, acquiring revenue of $9,761,550. This does not include Blu-ray sales/DVD rentals. [9]

Sequel

In an interview, when asked about a third Crank film, actress Amy Smart said "It's been talked about," but no actual statement from the writers has been made.[10] Also in an interview with Amy Smart after the release of Crank: High Voltage, she mentioned that Crank 3 might be made in 3D but, if so, wouldn't be released until 2011.[11]

See also

References

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ . http://www.crank2.co.uk/. 
  3. ^ Crank 2: High Voltage Being Shot With Cheapo Best Buy HD Cameras, Still Ridiculous
  4. ^ "Amy Smart Topless Shots". Crank 2: High Voltage Blog. 2008-06-28. http://www.crankhighvoltage.com/?p=1. Retrieved 2008-06-29. 
  5. ^ "Amy Smart Spills on Crank 2 Sex Scene, Crazy Plot, Crank 3?". Crank 2: High Voltage Blog. 2008-08-07. http://www.crankhighvoltage.com/?p=9. Retrieved 2008-09-24. 
  6. ^ "Crank 2: High Voltage (2009) - Soundtracks". Internet Movie Database. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1121931/soundtrack. Retrieved 2009-02-03. 
  7. ^ "Avg score for Crank". Rotten Tomatoes. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/crank_high_voltage/. Retrieved 2009-05-16. 
  8. ^ "Avg score for Crank". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/crankhighvoltage. Retrieved 2009-04-19. 
  9. ^ http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/2009/CRAN2-DVD.php
  10. ^ "Amy Smart Talks Crank 3 Possibilities". io9. http://io9.com/5212230/amy-smart-talks-crank-3-possibilities-and-dirty-hose-play. Retrieved 2009-04-14. 
  11. ^ "Crank 3 Coming At You In Three Dimensions". Cinema Blend. http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Crank-3-Coming-At-You-In-Three-Dimensions-8190.html. Retrieved 2009-03-16. 

External links


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