Review of Crank: High Voltage (2009) by Josef A — 03 Jul 2012

Imagine some very smart people setting out to make a very naughty action film and shooting themselves in the foot. Voila: Crank: High Voltage. In Crank: High Voltage, Statham just looks miserable, as if appearing in this lousy picture just sucked all the heart right out of him. The diminishing returns of shock value are the movie's built-in joke, and it would be a lot funnier without the directors' unforgivably bratty postsexist/postracist/posthuman showboating. Benefits of the first film's ancillary gross-out will jolt "Voltage" like a speedball shot to the groin, until word of mouth spreads like an STD. The movie feels like a form of aversion therapy designed to take the fun out of dumb. Crank: High Voltage, starring Jason Statham as a man with a machine instead of a heart, is is boorish, bigoted and borderline pornographic. There's not enough here for me to recommend it without reservations to anyone outside of that narrow target audience.

VERDICT: "Not So Hot" - [Negative Reaction] These films are truly terrible films. They are not the worst things ever made, but they are definitely awful and should not be seen by anyone. (Films that are rated 1.5 or 2 stars).