‘Crank: High Voltage’ is Brilliant

Crank: High Voltage is surely the most visually inventive picture of the year. It is not just candy for your eyes, it is amphetamines. It is among the best times I’ve had at the movies in the past few years.

A director usually focuses on one or two typical movie elements to the detriment of the others, which is why you so often see a dull picture filled with intense acting, or a blockbuster story with throwaway characters. The most common of all permutations is action ueber alles in which car chases follow bar fights follow gunplay follows airplane battles follow robot wars. But the rarest is one in which the director finds a string of absolutely original things to do for nearly every minute of the movie. That’s what happens in Crank: High Voltage, and that’s what makes it so exciting. (more…)