A mere glance at the reader board and my future realigned. Crank: High Voltage, which you may know as Crank 2, was not only screening, but it was screening in SUPER PANAVISION 70!
Popcorn in hand, Coke in other hand, ticket stub in pocket, smile on face, I walked into the theater.
As I was preparing myself for a joyful, yet violent jaunt projected on a titanic scale, I was surprised and delighted that Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor (co-writers and directors) had chosen to begin their sequel with an epic orchestral overture before the curtains pulled back--a drastic departure from the opening tone of the first film which opened in the first person POV of Chev Chelios (Jason Statham) drugged, sleepy, and panicked about the adrenaline-fueled time bomb implanted in his chest cavity, Crank: High Voltage gently eased the audience into the story with an orchestration both dark and lovely. This was only the first indication that Neveldine and Taylor had matured with their audience.
When the curtains opened and the film begin, we were treated to a short and dynamic motorcycle action scene (totally sweet) before cutting to a series of short clips that indicated our off screen protagonist was in a state of post mortem. This, of course, put us on track with the tag line, "He was dead...But he got better," and I was prepared for Jason Statham to burst, fist over, um, bullet, out of the bronzed memorial bust and start kicking some serious ass. At this point I should have known that the film was moving in a different direction. Yet another bold artistic choice for this big budget Hollywood flick was to strike a brooding juxtaposition between our expectations and the viewing experience, by skipping over what was surely a miraculous, Lazarusian reanimation scene and cutting right to the heart. Well Played, Neveldine and Taylor, well played.
In short, the rest of the film was a masterpiece. Jason Statham will surely be acknowledged by the academy for his knock ‘em dead performance and bewildering physical transformation (matched only by Charlize Theron in Monster). Overall, I give Crank: High Voltage five stars and two thumbs up! This unexpectedly historically relevant, character powerhouse of a scenic film will wow even the most disillusioned Hollywood spectators. Each of the 96 minutes felt twice as full, robust, and dare I say long? Just goes to show that modern cinema is more than competent in creating masterful art even in throw away sequels… although, despite advertising, I’m pretty sure this was a prequel.
On my way out I noticed that the reader board mentions that Lawrence of Arabia is also playing... snoozefest.
Grade: A+
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