Crank: High Voltage (Blu-ray Disc, 2009, 2-Disc Set, Includes Digital Copy)

High Voltage is essential for those that like their junk movies tasteless and baseless. I for one is pretty versatile when it comes to films and for those who know me can vouch for it. After I'd seen Crank 1 I couldn't wait to see Crank 2. It moves at such a frantic pace that you will probably miss a few things during the first viewing so I had to see it twice.

For those of you who don't know story wise, don't sweat it. It's just as bad as the previous installment. Voltage beings where the original ended with the Stath falling a mile from a helicopter and bouncing off a parked car - dead presumably, but no because the Chinese warlord responsible for his original poisoned predicament has Staham's Chev Chelios scraped off the roadside and deposited in a makeshift surgical theatre where his heart, strong enough to survive the original film and so a desirable commodity for his wizened nemesis, is extracted and replaced with a battery powered stopgap designed to keep him alive and his organs fresh for transplantation. You'd be forgiven for losing the thread at this point but the movie is only 5 minutes old when Chelios thankfully regains consciousness and on Doctor's orders, begins a hunt for his real heart while subjecting himself to electric shocks to keep the temporary one functioning.

That, if you can believe it, is the setup, and you won't be shocked to learn that it's a fairly sober foundation for what follows. Shot on prosumer camcorders, Crank 2 is saturated in the promise of bargain basement vulgarity and doesn't disappoint. Edited with an eye for the absurd, it feverishly presses on across ninety monged out minutes in which guns are inserted into rectums, nipples sliced from torsos, fights segue into Godzilla style monsters battling against miniatures (with actors in caricatured masks of Statham and his enemy battling it out) and in the funniest sequence, Geri Halliwell appears in flashback as Mother Chelios, taking the young Chev to task on a talk show in which a few British cars and a reject from a mad max movie dressed as a British punk are dropped onto a Californian back lot for the least convincing but most enjoyable English flashback you've ever seen. Chelios may be a hard-line misogynist and causal racist, but there's something about the former Sydenham market trader that would make him likable. Jason Statham preforms brilliantly once again as Chev Chilos. But if you look closer to the film you will see cameo performance of Cory Haims(The Lost Boys) and David Carradine(Kill Bill).

Like I said if you can handle violence, blood, shootings, gratuitous nudity, foul and offensive language involving hilarious one liners from Jason Statham then give it a shot. It's a pure, mindless action taken beyond the extreme and I loved every minute of it.

Jason Statham Returns with a vengeance in this sequel to Crank.

After falling nearly a mile at the end of Crank, Statham finds himself on an operating table after having his heart cut out to replace that of a dying crime boss played by David Carradine. Where the movie goes from there is pretty far fetched however it is full of action and many Crank fans will get a kick out of some of the inventive ways that Statham uses to charge himself up.

Its a good movie if your really into this type of movie.

Rated 4 of 5. Good action.

The second Crank offers exactly what I expected from it: a lot of action, messed up humor, and a simple storyline. It's a movie that can be easily digested and its story is just an excuse for massive doses of fighting, shooting...and running. The dialogs, camera work, and music are all based on B class action movies from the 80's which actually works out really well and creates a unique setting. There were parts where I couldn't stop laughing for a long time, but those were mixed up with parts which were completely out of context and weren't amusing in any way. It's a good movie for it's class, but you have to have a right mind set to enjoy it. Not worth full retail price but if you get get it at a discount go for it.

I liked this movie, how they did keep the same actors but the storyline was changed up quite a bit which was nice, but started where the first one left off. Not as good as the first(I dont think) but can not wait to see it on Blu-ray! Should be exhilarating.

It only reinforces the reason Jason Statham has become one of my favorite actors. The action and fight scenes are always kept to a constant rising cresendo.