Crank
***
http://www.crankfilm.com/
Written and Directed by: Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor
With: Jason Statham, Jose Pablo Cantillo, Dwight Yoakam, Amy Smart, Efren Ramirez

Review by Larry Stanley
This is going to be the easiest film review I have done in quite a while.
You start with a chase and later the movie ends. Great film, not for children however. This is a flat out, pure blown action chase film that will certainly get your blood in a rush. Go see it.
Larry Stan…..
What? That isn't enough to know what is going on? Alright fine; I will add some more.
Crank is possibly the best Action film of the year. The studios will have to work hard to beat this one in the time left. To get an idea of the film, think of DOA and Eat My Dust. Or Smokey and the Bandit.
Statham plays professional killer Chev Chelios who awakens one morning to discover that he has been give an Oriental poison that should kill him in under an hour. But Chev keeps going because of the Adrenaline in his system that keeps the poison from connecting to his nervous system.
So Chev plans on taking out the guy who tried to kill him. Thus starts a race against time through the streets of LA to find enemy Verona (Jose Pablo Cantillo). While doing this, he contacts his criminal Doctor who tells him to keep his adrenaline pumping.
So we as the viewer art taken across the city, through malls, hospitals and shopping areas. With cars, motorcycles, helicopters and on foot Chev fights to stay alive and find his killers.
Yes, the film is a redo of several different movies. From the Blues Brothers to Where Does It Hurt? But they are all combined to make a great film. Statham again shows why he should have been the new James Bond. He is attractive (in a manly sort of way), intelligent, women like him, he can fight and drive. He should have been 007.
Amy Smart was just sweet as candy throughout the film. Her move from girlfriend of a videogame programmer, to girlfriend of a hitman was so smooth it was amazing. One of the most interesting -ahem- and talked about (and funniest) scenes is Chev's need to keep his adrenaline going during a walk in Chinatown. His way is a public sex scene set in the streets surrounding by hundreds of onlookers. Everyone in my audience clapped and yelled support.
Another great scene is where he is shocked by a hospital orderly. And I do mean shocked.
Crank is also the first film for former cinematographers-commercials Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor. They who also wrote the film, shot it with digital video and created a gritty looking cityscape that reflects the lifestyle Chev lives and his feelings of helplessness in a battle he won't quit and yet knows he can't win.
What makes Crank so much better then most of the latest action movies is it sense of humor and the absurd. Chev has no interest in anyone standing in the way of his hunt, the image of a man running down crowded streets wearing black shoes and socks and a hospital gown open in the back displaying his fanny is not something you expect to see everyday.
And while Statham gets to fight a lot in this movie, he is nothing like Frank the Driver in the Transporter series. He doesn't seem to have the time here and he knows it. So, he just puts his opponents down for the duration.
Statham and Cantillo did their own stunts, including the fight in the helicopter hundreds of feet over the streets of the city.
As I said, the best of the year.