The original Crank was an insanely guilty pleasure of mine. The film knew exactly what it was and it made no apologies for it. No, it certainly wasn’t for everyone, but its reckless, balls-to-the-wall, nonsensical insanity hooked me from the opening credits and it had me till Chev fell from the sky (Spoiler alert for those of you who haven’t seen the original) and landed on the pavement to his assumptive death. I loved that flick and I still watch it from time to time. And so, it was with great excitement that I heard they were doing yet another Crank movie… which opens this weekend.
Now, before I go on to write this article I’ve titled “5 Reasons To Be Pumped For Crank 2” it’s only fair and appropriate of me to point out that the directors of Crank 2 are friends of mine and so there is some full disclosure bias on my part. However, I can honestly tell you I loved Crank before I ever met the guys, and these 5 reasons I list for you now are total honest feelings.
So with all that being said, here are 5 reasons to be pumped for Crank 2:
1) THE TRAILERS
It’s true that trailers can be totally deceptive. The Phantom Menace had one of the greatest trailers in history… and looked how that turned out. Still, all things being equal it’s better for a movie to have a good trailer, and the trailers for Crank 2 have been fantastic (if you’re someone like me who is looking for more of what they gave us in the first Crank movie).
2) THE DIRECTORS
Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor are not the next Ron Howards or Steven Spielbergs of Hollywood, nor are they about to bring the latest Shakespeare adaptation to the big screen. But what these guys do as well as almost anyone else is put together damn entertaining movies that uses the big screen as a virtual playground for pushing limits that other movies haven’t tried yet. For me personally, this makes for a really fun viewing experience. Again, not for everyone, but certainly for me with my big ol’ bag of popcorn.
3) THE MEDIUM
To the best of my knowledge, Crank 2 is going to be the very first wide release narrative film shot entirely on consumer level cameras. This is just another way Neveldine and Taylor like to explore and try new things. Instead of shooting on traditional 35mm film cameras, or on the $200k digital cameras, Neveldine and Taylor decided to shoot Crank 2 on the $3000 Canon XH-A1 HD pro-sumer video cameras that use standard mini-dv tape to record on. Not only is this a testament to how far digital equipment has come, but the relatively tiny cameras offered the directors unparalleled mobility and flexibility while shooting their crazy ass shots. I am dying to see how this turns out on the big screen. I don’t anticipate it will look just like film… but I don’t care… I just want to see if it WORKS.
4) JASON STATHAM
I’ve been a big fan of Statham ever since I first saw Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. I became an even bigger fan after seeing Snatch (one of my all time favs). Statham is one of those performers (notice that I didn’t say actors) who may never grace the stage of the Academy Awards, but for my money he is the last true action star (an argument could also be made for Dwayne Johnson). He’s got a great screen presence, tons of natural charisma, is in great shape, can pull off fantastic action scenes and has a very natural sense of comedic timing to boot. He’s an entertaining dude to see in the right kind of movie. No, he doesn’t always chose the right movies, but a franchise like Crank was made for him, and vice versa. Long live Chev Chelios!
5) THE TECHNIQUES
This goes back to what I was saying about Neveldine and Taylor earlier. These guys try things… ridiculous things. Some of these things revolve around how they like to get their shots. I don’t want to give too much away, but there are ways they get shots in an action scene involving a limo that would blow your mind. On top of all that, Mark Neveldine enjoys strapping a pair of roller blades onto his feet, holding on to the back of a car or a motorcycle (like in the picture below) and use his free hand to hold a camera while whipping around the streets. It all makes for some very unique shots acquired in some very unique ways.
So there you have it. If you’re a fan of movies that are a little bit different, or just flat out nuts, this is going to be the movie to catch this weekend. If you’re the type who gets bothered by too much violence, gratuitous nudity, swearing or silliness… maybe you’d be better off with something else. For me, I’ll be at this sucker Friday night.
Just saw Crank 2 and it is even more over the top than the first and I loved it even more than the first. These guys are geniuses. This could had easily just been pure crap but they make it work beyond my wildest dreams. Give me Crank 3.
I’m not seeing it, but I’m looking forward to it for the old lady scene.
“You know we can’t use that language on the air.”
Haha. Funny.
I love Crank 1, and I’m going to see crank 2 in the theaters. Thankfully, I have plenty of brain cells, so it’s not that much of a tragedy if I lose some.
Im excited for this movie, but (SPOILER) in the picture above, isn’t that Chev’s buddy Kaylo (played by Efren Ramirez) riding behind him on the motorcycle? He got suffocated and shot in the first movie so what is he doing in this one? Or do you think it’s just a flashback? (END SPOILER
haha
well at the rate this movie has been going from the trailers i could totally see that happen. But the thing is, Chev is wearing the same clothes on the Motorcycle as he is in the beginning of the trailer. Unless Kaylo comes back from the dead, or has some kind of twin, i don’t understand as to how or why they would bring his character back.
I found Crank to be a vulgar and vile experience. Honestly, I don’t say that often but these two guys who directed it should go into porn as that is what Crank feels like. Sorry if I’m giving porn a bad name.
chuck
Crank is meant to be entertainment. It’s not really a movie you’d find in my DVD collection, but I enjoyed the first which my friend showed me, was nothing special. Just a par above the Fast and Furious movies.
I loved the first one, and I hope they don’t even try to explain why Chev isn’t dead.
The movie should have a scene along the lines of:
Chev: Why aren’t I dead?
Crazy Asian Doctor guy: I have no idea…
And then never address it again.
Sometimes I like to go to a movie, shut my brain off, and just be entertained, and that is what the original Crank did, and I hope the sequel accomplishes.
ive seen the trailers and this film look rediculous(not in a good way)
Crank knew what it was! It didn’t take itself seriously and played with the silliness of it all.
I’ll admit to not wanting to see the original in the cinema, but after watching it on DVD I was hooked!
I’ll be queuing up to see Crank 2 after laughing my backside off at all the trailers (even the ones without Statham are hilarious).
I found the 1st “Crank” interesting, but ultimately too stupid. So, I’ll see the sequel eventually but I’m not anxiously waiting on pins and needles to do so.
But it did have some impressive action and comedy that was the only reason I gave it a 2
I read the script for Crank: High voltage and I’m tellin you I hated it like nothing before, look I did like the first one but this one is way more unbelievable than the first, I know you are not supposed to take it seriously and just have some fun with it, I tried, but it was so awful, not trying to bum anyone out, just saying what I think.
2 out of 10 for the script
I don’t think the heart of this movie lies in the script as much as the visualization of the script. You can look at pictures of ferrari and read about it all you want but until you step behind the wheel of that sports car, you know nothing.
I believe that The Blair Witch Projevt was the “first wide release narrative film shot entirely on consumer level cameras.” Though I suppose that depends what you mean by “wide release.”
I think 28 Days Later may have been shot on similar cameras as well
yeah, i wanna see this too.
When I saw Crank I felt my IQ steadily drop as the movie went on
All it is is cursing, sex and violence
By far the most vulgar hour and a half of my life
And that one time we watched “Sabado Gigante” in my spanish 2 class in 10th grade
CANNOT WAIT!!!!!!!!
see i do love my mindless violence, tits, and whatnot, but the 1st crank didnt do anything for me. its strange, the whole time i was watching it i thought “hmm, i should like this, but i dont”. it just seemed like it was trying too hard. idk its weird, not looking forward to this one. the trailers are cool tho, but then again so were the ones for the 1st one. damn whats wrong with me john? i just sat through all of bad boys 2 and im still smiling, but i think crank is an over-edited piece of crap…