ShareThisBy BETSY PICKLE
Jason Statham fans will get their money's worth out of "Crank."
At last, here's a heart-pumping action film that's boiled down to its literal essence: adrenaline. The protagonist has been injected with a deadly poison that's inhibiting his, and he will stay alive only as long as he keeps moving and keeps his adrenaline up.
It's the kind of scenario that would be right at home in a videogame, and indeed the film uses graphics and replenishes the hero's power as if it were one. It's part of a deliberately over-the-top format that strips away niceties such as character development and logic in favor of action and visceral flourishes.
Statham played a more polished but similar character in the two "Transporter" movies. Here, he's a freelance hit man with the unlikely name of Chev Chelios. He's been working for a Latino crime boss, Carlito (Carlos Sanz), in Los Angeles, but his latest hit _ on a Triad bigwig named Don Kim (Keone Young) _ has brought heat down on the Latinos, and they're trying to get out of it by getting rid of Chev.
Chev wakes feeling groggy and sluggish, his heart barely beating. He watches a DVD left for him by sharp-dressed thug Ricky Verona (Jose Pablo Cantillo) and learns about the poison. Fortunately, Chev's natural instinct is to spring into action. As he discovers, that's the best thing for him.
Chev quickly decides that he will get revenge on Verona if it's the last thing he does, which it probably will be. He's supposed to have only an hour to live, but as he bops around Los Angeles _ from seedy parts to luxurious Beverly Hills, his anger at Verona mixes with his resolve to find his pal, Kaylo (Efren Ramirez), doctor, Doc Miles (Dwight Yoakam), and girlfriend, Eve (Amy Smart), and keeps him from succumbing to the poison, a "Beijing cocktail."
Using his trusty cell phone (obviously fully charged and then some), Chev finally reaches Doc, who tells Chev he's a goner but shares what advice he can. He also eventually gets to Eve, a ditzy beauty who thinks Chev is a videogame programmer and has a hard time believing his wild claims about being a hit man who's about to die.
"Crank" tips its hat to the cheesy action movies of the '80s with gratuitous displays of naked breasts and snippets of such groaners as Quiet Riot's "Bang Your Head (Metal Health)" and Loverboy's "Turn Me Loose" (there's also some good music ranging from punk to hip hop to Harry Nilsson's "Everybody's Talkin'"). The movie has the same kind of politically incorrect '80s bravado, but it adds a contemporary patina of gruesome, realistic viscera.
Statham gets into the spirit of the insanity and does exactly what any tough but good-hearted hit man would do in the same situation. The British action star may never be Olivier, but when a role calls for toughness, humor and sexiness, he should be at the top of the list.
Commercial veterans Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, in their feature writing-directing debut, keep it simple but hit the mark. "Crank" cranks it up.
Rated R for strong violence, pervasive language, sexuality, nudity and drug use.
Three and a half stars (out of five).
