Crank 2 - High Voltage [Blu-ray]

When you watch a Neveldine and Taylor film, you're signing up for bloodshed, vicious violence, and offensive content mixed with some excellently timed and seriously dodgy off-colour humour.
This is all of the above.
After Jason Statham's relentlessly determined survivor (and professional hit-man) cockney Chev Chelois seemingly died at the end of Crank, this starts in typically absurd fashion, with him being scooped off the tarmac with a shovel no less (see what I mean about the humour?) and bundled into a van. Next thing we know he's surrounded by mysterious bad guys hoping to harvest bits of his anatomy and the madness starts from there.
As fans of the first film will know, these stories are all about perpetual motion - if Chelios stops for too long he'll die. This time it's electricity that's needed, which leads to several gruesome moments, and a fair few very funny ones too. It also means we get non-stop careening from action scene to action scene, with a great deal of swearing and extreme violence. Amy Adams is back as his tolerant, loyal and faintly slutty girlfriend in a great role, and is joined by some of the original cast in roles that are used well, as well as a host of new faces.
Some of the gags are extremely juvenile, but they work because the film wears its colours extremely prominently on its sleeve. Inspired by the style of computer shoot-em-ups, it'll appeal to the same age group and mindset, with gradually increasing levels of bad guys and frequent 'health regeneration' moments.
Statham is hilarious and has a ball as the foul-mouthed sociopathic killer, as he staggers around from gunfight to gunfight followed by a trail of psychotic hookers, bizarre friends and carnage. As a result of the sheer insanity, it's enjoyably unpredictable, but it also makes little sense as a script and is better enjoyed as a crazed, unstable couple of hours of sheer fun.
The film itself isn't as inspired or funny as the first, although it certainly tries to match it for violence, and the set pieces aren't quite as good (especially a rubbish comedy Godzilla-style rip-off moment that looks like it was filmed for afternoon children's TV) but it has one of the most over-the-top endings imaginable. In fact it's hard to see where they could go with it from here. Although isn't that what we said last time...?

I chose this rating because I could not watch the Blu-ray as it only appeared in the middle of my 42" tv screen and it was only the centre of the film that we could see. I had the same with the 2nd copy I received and was not happy with my purchase so cannot rate the film itself as I've still not seen it. I'm positive it would be a great film to watch as Crank was brilliant as well as funny.

"Crank 2" picks up from the moment "Crank" finished and follows the same furious, crazy, violent, highly-charged pattern of nonsense as the first one. Imagine all the action scenes from a normal movie have been cut together, and all the scenes about plot or mystery have been left out. That's what "Crank 2" is like. Not a minute goes by without somebody being shot or stabbed. It's relentless, and that's really what it's all about.

As well as some more violent and ridiculous moments (as if the helicopter fight at the end of the first film wasn't enough), there are also some very tongue-in-cheek moments that give it a bit of an extra dimension. The surreal bit in which Chev and one of the baddies turn into Godzilla style giant monsters- brilliant. The bit in which one of the incidental characters from the first film re-appears on a psychiatrist's couch, good fun. It's slightly "Austin Powers"-like in the way it twists off and goes very silly in parts. Except of course the gun-fighting, brutal violence and regular nudity is not quite so "Austin Powers"-y.

A very very silly film, but if you want a violent action movie with a sense of humour, this is one of the best (but watch the first "Crank" first).