AT SOME POINT in this truly extraordinary film, Jason Statham encounters a character who claims to have something called “Full Body Tourettes” – and if you think such a crass appropriation of a distressing condition is in poor taste, then you are considering a trip to the wrong movie.
That phrase sums up Crank: High Voltagequite nicely. Nobody was likely to doze off during the first Crank, but its successor makes that thrillingly deranged romp look like a Merchant Ivory production.
Over a mind-bogglingly busy, undeniably inventive 96 minutes, Statham gets set on fire and flung from a helicopter. He has hilariously public sex on a busy racecourse, drop-kicks a decapitated head into a swimming pool, and flashes back to observe his childhood self being interviewed on a crass chat show while his mother (Geri Halliwell, would you believe?) fumes in the adjacent seat.
Not mad enough for you? Well, hang on for the sequence in which Statham and his current antagonist are transformed into giant Japanese monsters. Its Stathzzilla versus the Triad Beast.
Whats not to like? Well, for starters, the beautifully neat original high concept has been replaced by something thats just too vague and messy to hold this disorganised beast together. As you will recall, chapter one invented some scenario that required the hero to keep his heart rate above a certain level. The new film has the Statham ticker replaced by an artificial device that needs charging every now and then.
Whatever, dude. We need something better than that to nudge all this casual racism, misogyny and homophobia into guilty-pleasure territory. Does Statham really refer to a pair of gay men as sausage Nigels?
Okay, that is quite funny. But still.
CRANK: HIGH VOLTAGE Directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor. Starring Jason Statham, Amy Smart, Bai Ling, David Carradine, Dwight Yoakam, Corey Haim 18 cert, gen release, 96 min **
