Crank
"This is as detestable a hard-R offense (equal-opportunity offender though it may be) as has ever been released to theaters." - Keith Uhlich, Slant Magazine
Keith, you are so right, and that's what makes Crank so good. Unlike Trust the Man, this movie pretty well tells you what it's going for, and delivers. If you've seen the previews, you know what you'll be getting. It isn't brainy; it isn't all that deep; hell, most of the time it's totally off the wall and unbelievable, but it does deliver. It is a high paced, gratuitously violent film. Basically this is what Running Scared was striving to be, except this movie actually accomplishes it (oh and replaces the dreadful Paul Walker with the always entertaining Jason Statham). It's pretty much non-stop movement and action, and all done in a good way. It was unique camera angles, techniques, layerings, etc. It's not the standard Hollywood action shots left and right.
In a lot of ways this film seems to be everything that conservatives seem to have problems with in games and movies. It's violent for the sake of being violent. It's grusome without apology. It's got blatant sex (in public none the less!). There was swearing left and right. And it rarely shows any consequences of the actions the characters take. Maybe that's what I really loved about it. It was everything "wrong" with our culture wrapped up in a neat little package.
To quote Geoff Pevere, of the Toronto Star, "Crank qualifies as a superior piece of slick, shallow-souled trash. And I mean that in the best sense of the term."
RATING: Worth a Full Price Ticket (if you're looking for pure action), Worth a Rental/High Netflix Place