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Crank

EMAILPRINTLions Gate Films

Crank reviews
57
7.0 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 19 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 85 votes
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Action  |  Drama  |  Suspense/Thriller

Written by: Mark Neveldine
Brian Taylor

Directed by: Mark Neveldine
Brian Taylor

Release Date:
Theatrical: September 1, 2006
DVD: January 9, 2007

Running Time: 83 minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: R for strong violence, pervasive language, sexuality, nudity and drug use

Starring Jason Statham, Amy Smart, Jose Pablo Cantillo, Efren Ramirez, Dwight Yoakam, Carlos Sanz, Reno Wilson, and Edi Gathegi

Chev Chelios (Statham) is about to begin his morning with an unexpected wake-up call. Groggy, practically unable to move and with a heart that's barely beating, he hears the voice of thug Ricky Verona, who reveals Chev has been poisoned in his sleep and only has an hour to live. As it turns out, Chev is a hit man who freelances for a major West Coast syndicate. A run of the mill job the night before instead went awry: he let his target slip away in an effort to quit professional killing and start a new life with his girlfriend Eve. Now, Chev must keep moving to stay alive: the only way to prolong the poison from stopping his heart is to keep his adrenaline flowing. As the clock ticks, Chelios cuts a swath through the streets of Los Angeles, wreaking havoc on those who dare stand in his way. He must rescue Eve from danger, stay two steps ahead of his nemeses and search for an antidote to save his own life. (Lionsgate)

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

80

Empire Nick De Semlyen

A Saw for the action crowd, this is an intense, stripped-down ride that goes places you’d never expect. Edgy and outrageous, it should get the fearless Statham some deserved attention.

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80

LA Weekly Luke Y. Thompson

First-time feature directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor play with speed and sound to effectively recreate the buzz of an over-caffeinated all-nighter, delivering one of the year’s best pure junk-food entertainments.

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75

Boston Globe Ty Burr

Crank is an efficient, witty, junkyard dog of an action movie for its first hour. Unfortunately, the script runs out of gas before the hero does. While it's cooking, though, it's violently preposterous fun.

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75

Philadelphia Inquirer David Hiltbrand

If you can stomach the hard-R rating, this is a smart, sexy and funny sprint.

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70

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

Crank" is "D.O.A" on methamphetamines.

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70

Los Angeles Times Michael Ordona

Neveldine and Taylor empty their handbasket of cinematic tricks. They display visual wit, have fun with pop songs, and shoot much of the film in slightly choppy fast-motion ("under-cranked," get it?).

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70

The Hollywood Reporter Michael Rechtshaffen

The 2006 summer movie season went out with a reasonable bang courtesy of Crank, a jacked-up, unapologetically mindless bit of ADD-prescribed escapism that more or less delivers on a nifty premise.

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70

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

This is one of those movies whose empty-headed premise is so pure it's witty: with his insatiable need for excitement, the hero is a perfect stand-in for the fanboys in the audience.

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67

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

The movie is cranked up somewhere between stylish and proudly stupid, dusted with sunniness from Amy Smart (as Chev's sleepy girlfriend) -- and guaranteed to be out of your system by the time the lights come up.

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67

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

It's a sympathomimetic monoamine that stimulates the central nervous system! Hooray epinephrine! And that's all I'm going to say about Crank.

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63

ReelViews James Berardinelli

One could argue that Crank works best as a comedy. It's occasionally funny, and some times VERY funny.

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63

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

So blatantly contrived it could be called The Fast and the Spurious, Crank has the small saving grace of being intentionally ridiculous. The action sequences are more notable for their outrageousness than their visceral power.

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60

Variety Justin Chang

Videogamers who've been itching for "Grand Theft Auto: The Movie" can tide themselves over in the meantime with Crank, a down-and-dirty actioner that follows a rugged antihero trying to outrun death by keeping his adrenaline flowing.

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58

The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps

Its a stupid thrill for a while, but the high wears off, and the anything-goes approach gets headache-inducing.

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50

San Francisco Chronicle Neva Chonin

It's all about the dumb thrill, baby. Leave it alone, or leave your brain and pocket change at the gate, strap yourself in and just enjoy the ride.

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50

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Genially preposterous, with stunt players outnumbering actors by something like a 3-to-1 ratio, the action thriller Crank is surprisingly watchable.

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50

TV Guide Ken Fox

The whole thing whizzes by in such a panicked rush that there's no time for anything so immaterial as character, but what little we do learn about Chev works against the film.

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30

The New York Times Nathan Lee

For a movie premised on unrelenting action, Crank proves fatally turgid.

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12

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

Every movie's gotta have a gimmick, and Crank's is that it has an excellent shot at ending 2006 as the worst film of the year.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 7.0 (out of 10) based on 85 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Mike bob gave it a1:
This must be the worst movie I've ever seen, by far. The plot seems to be not only written for, but quite possibly by, a 14-year-old. Everyone who loved this movie mentioned the same thing, "It's great if you want a movie where you don't have to think." OK, I agree. It's an awesome movie if you are, or can become at will, an idiot. If, however, you cannot ignore the fact that you understand even the slightest bit about physics, or law enforcement, or the martial arts, or Asian culture, or... then you are bound to see this movie for what it is: typical Hollywood crap.

Truthseeker gave it a10:
Crazy, unstable, evil, bold, raw, unstable, hyperactive, sick, gross, wild. Run for the tickets!! This movie was based on some wild video game. If you are a conservative, or taking some things too seriously, don't watch this movie. But if you enjoy sick and wild action movies with no limits, rush to the cinema!

R C H gave it a9:
You have to be in the right mood to see this movie, just stop using you're brain for the next 2 hours, have a bit of fun and you're all good.

Mr. Monkey gave it a9:
Alright, listen: this is a movie that can receive really one of two ratings. One is if you're going in just to enjoy a ridiculous movie; this succeeds at that, breaking more or less every physical rule ever invented and bringing up pretty much any vice you can think of. It's successful here and as a movie where I didn't have to think (coming off a long string of watching films like Adaption and Memento for the past few weeks) Crank was a mindless relief. On the other hand, if you are "mature" and "an adult" this movie is awful. God! Society these days, right? 0/10.

dave gave it a1:
Obviously awful and disgusting if you are over 20 and/ or generally tend to use your brain. Obviously great if you are young, stoned, male, immature and have fallen for the modern "jackass generation" as i call it.

Smion H gave it a9:
You have to be a bit crazy and a bit more gaga to like this movie, but if you are, you do not want it to stop. You get at least as much adrenaline as Chelios.

Sebastian M. gave it a10:
As long as you view this as a, no pretences, action movie that is all about speed and adrenaline then this movie is one of the best in its kind. well worth the watch

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