Crank: High Voltage

"Crank: High Voltage" is the original "Crank" on crack.

"Crank 2" follows just seconds after the end of the first movie where Chev Chelios is thought to be dead after falling from a helicopter over LA.

He was dead...he got better.
With an indestructible heart he survived, but a group of triads steal his heart to put into the body of their aged mobster boss. Chelios wakes up 3 months later and has an artificial heart inside of him with enough battery to last only an hour. He must race the clock of his own life (yet again) to get his own ticker back.

And with that sh*t hits the fan. Even with the opening of the film it already declares that belief must be suspended because everything in this movie is implausible and has the qualities of a video game.



Amy Smart reprises her role as Eve, Chelios' girlfriend, and Dwight Yoakam returns as his medical advice friend Doc Miles. Efren Ramirez returns in the movie as well even though his character, Kaylo, died in the first film. Instead he plays Venus, Kaylo's gay twin brother who has full body tourettes. Ling Bai (I instantly recognized her as the chick who gave Jack his tattoo in "Lost") hilariously plays Ria, an Asian hooker who thinks Chelios is her savior.

So much crazy stuff happens in this movie it is hard to believe. There is more nakd woman with guns getting shot in this movie than I have ever seen. Ever wonder what happens if a breast implant gets shot? You'll find out.

While I find some of the violence unnecessary (do we have to watch a guy cut off his own nipples?) there is just so much and whenever there is a lull point in the movie there is further action to compensate.



Do you think directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor can outdo the public sex scene between Chelios and Eve from "Crank?" Well...they did...this time making it more graphic, longer and with a larger audience.

The insanity doesn't stop and there are points of WTF moments (think of Godzilla). This movie isn't as fun as the first since it is a rehash of the same material, but there is just so much visual overload that it can't help but be entertaining.



While the film picks up speed to a grand finale ending, the film ends with little closure. The ending for the first film was pretty decent but "Crank 2" leaves nothing resolved. his leaves room for a third film as there are still issues at the end that need to be fixed.

Definitely watch the first movie before seeing this if you haven't because many characters and references to the first film are laid out here (my main question dealt with the phone message from the end of "Crank," and that question was answered).

Check out Neveldine and Taylor's next movie "Citizen Game" when it hits theaters Sept. 4.
If you liked "Crank," then "Crank: High Voltage" is a must-see movie for you!
7.4/10