DVD Review: Crank

As promised....

DVD Review: Crank (Neveldine/Taylor, 2006, USA)

Speed in a body. Four such brilliant words. An incredible premise. The best pure action film for a good few years.
Chev Chelios (Jason Statham) has been posioned with the "Beijing Cocktail"; if he doesn't keep his adrenaline up he will die. Before he dies, Chelios has to get revenge on the man who did it to him, Verona (Jose Pablo Casillo).
That's all you need to know. To say anything else would spoil some of the fun of this picture as you are never sure where it is headed next and the spontaenity is very much part of the appeal. Directing duo Neveldine/Taylor (surely previous music video directors) use many tricks in the book and stage some new ones to make this feel truly like an action movie for the 21st century. The eidting smacks of MTV school esque filmmaking but the sheer bravado and surreality of much of the film (the scene with the Japanes businessman seems to mimic Statham;'s Revolver weirdly enough) seem to suggest that these guys have more brains than most hack action directors (Ratner, I'm looking at you). The use of HD cameras is also evident and impressively so. Unlike some of the earlier digitally shot filmsreleased in cinemas, this film retains a very clean and sharp image and iit brings out the more iinventive uses of the camera very well.
The film also has a wicked streak of black humour running throughout it, and while very funny, is very much men's-only humour. It certainly struck a chord with me and my good friend Neil when we saw this at the cinema, and it lost none of its appeal
The film belongs to Statham, barely any characters get a look on and you do not care. Seeing him tear up the streets of LA is surely one of the most enthralling cinematic treats of 2006 and he pulls it off with aplomb. That being said, I found his girfriend played by Amy Smart less annoying than many reviewers seem to have thought.
That's about all I really want to say, I feel I may ruin your experience if I say much more. It's a shame this kind of died in cinemas and as I really do mean it when I say this is one of the best pure action films made in years. Also, if its tagline "Poision in his veins, vengeance in his heart" doesn't get you going, you can't call yourself an action fan lol.

Video: As said in the review the film itself is shot incredibly well with HD cameras. Assuming this is a digital-to-digital transfer as I think it is, it is pretty much the best picture quality you can hope for on DVD.

Audio: Slightly disapointing Dolby Digital 5.1 track. The front gets a lot of action but I didn't feel the rears were used half as much as they could have been. When it does kick in, its more a suprise than anything else. Very nice bass though.

Extras: Teaser trailers for two of my most anticipated films for the first half of 2006, Joe Carnahan's Smokin' Aces, and the follow up to Shaun of the Dead, Edgar Wright's "Hot Fuzz". Good stuff to have. Trailer for Crank which reflects the film's style rather well. And that is it.... Would have loved a commentary. Is it just me or are commentaries starting to die out? Real shame.

Great film, average DVD. I couldn't wait to buy it, but if you want, rent it for now and wait until its a fiver in a few months time.

Happy New Year everyone, I'm working at 8 tomorrow morning. Balls.