“Crank” isn’t one of the best action films but it’s one of the most original action films in years. It is funny… in a sick and twisted way like a Quentin Tarantino film (e.g. “Pulp Fiction”), in fact I could easily see him doing this. “Crank” is non-stop insanity.

In “Crank”, hitman Chev Chelios (Jason Statham “The Transporter”, “Cellular”) is injected with poison that’ll kill him if his heart rate drops below a certain speed so Chev has to keep doing crazy stuff in order to survive long enough to get revenge. He takes loads of drugs, gets into fights and drives through a shopping centre and that’s all before even thirty minutes in.

Statham plays the loveably unlikeable Chev Chelios as he’s true scum but you can’t wait to see what he does next. Statham seems suited to the part quite well and his acting deserves some real praise here as he did the majority of the stunts in this film (at least the ones that are humanly possible) and it is hard to act this manic all the time but he pulls it off in a credible way. I also like the name, it sounds like a Nicolas Cage (“Raising Arizona”) character. The villains are dull and his girlfriend Eve (Amy Smart “Rat Race”) isn’t given a lot to do.

“Crank” needs tweaking here and there but it’s such an intense film with so many things I haven’t seen before that I have to recommend it. The highlights are the ending and it also a clever little trick where a subtitle is flipped. One thing I really wish “Crank” did is never have Chelios leave the scene (in “Chinatown”, Jake Gittes never leaves the scene). The movie is far from perfection but it is incredibly innovative with both the violence and humour.