Review of Crank: High Voltage (2009) by Ethyne W — 12 Jul 2010

Crank 2: High Voltage practically begs to be passionately loathed by absolutely everyone, with the notable exception of antisocial teenage boys. Its rank, nihilistic tone is relentless and exhausting. The misogyny is benchmark horrendous. The acts of violence are brutal, frequent and often blatantly homoerotic. Itâ??s flippant. Itâ??s homophobic. Itâ??s vulgar. And it feels as much seething contempt for its own narrative coherence as it does for its few prominent female characters. But there is something bracingly brilliant about it. Films this fearlessly unhinged simply do not get made any more, and thirty years ago this would've played, late at night, to packed houses for years on end, perhaps aptly bundled with the likes of John Water's Pink Flamingoes. I have to admit, I kind of loved every minute of it.

Let me start off by defending my rating of this title. Really, it's hard for me to rate a movie like this because it was specifically directed right at people like me. I can't help it that I like a movie like this but I do; it's just the way it is. Crank is a grind house movie in an era where grind house movies don't exist anymore. It features everything that is unacceptable as pure entertainment and you can't stop watching. It's, for the most, part balls to the walls insanity. It doesn't make sense. The reason I don't mind is that the movie isnâ??t trying to. You know from the get-go that it wonâ??t. Crank knows that it's stupid and crazy and it loves it! So do I. This movie isnâ??t trying to impress anyone; it just is what it is: fun, entertaining, ridiculous, high energy, and full of action. This is a movie that takes control and owns itself.

Usually I find myself watching movies with a simple, predictable A-B formula; however, this is not that type of film. Crank: High Voltage is a whopping A-Z formula, complete with insanity, humour, and randomness thrown at us with each and every turn. You know where the movie is going as soon as you start watching it, but its amazingness lies in its ability to still keep you watching.

This movie is fun, so just have fun with it and stop taking everything so seriously. Go and see it.