Crank 2: High Voltage Blu-ray Review
Electricity not included.
If you thought Crank was crass and distasteful, then Crank 2: High Voltage will likely give you fits.
Picking up where the original left off, after the main character seemingly fell from a plane to his death, High Voltage immediately throws elements like “realism” and “subtlety” out the window. For the moment you pop the disc into your Blu-ray player until the credits roll, the film revels in its own brand of insanity.
If you’re with it, the film is immensely enjoyable, but those that fight the current will find one of the more despicable films in recent memory.
Lionsgate, smartly fills the Blu-ray release with an adequate set of supplemental material. Coupled with a gorgeous transfer and some outstanding audio, this is the type of release that is an impulse buy for fans, but something that even A/V enthusiasts can enjoy.
STORYTELLING: 
Chev Chelios, surprisingly undead after the last installment, awakens in a hospital held captive by the Triad, and sporting an artificial heart that requires electricity to keep a tickin’. It appears that someone has made off with Chelios’ heart, and that doesn’t please him – not one bit.
That introduction should serve as a warning to anyone expecting a serious action film. Serious cinema this is not; High Voltage feels as if a group of 12-year-olds on a playground, tweaked on Sweetarts and Mountain Dew, developed an idea for the most kickass film of all-time and were given the budget to actually shoot it.
Genre stalwart, Jason Statham, reprises his role masterfully – slipping into a character that is both sympathetic and revolting. Chelios goes about fightin’ (and screwin’) until he gets his heart back, or his new one goes out. Electricity serves as a replacement for adrenaline in this sequel, as Chelios requires juice to power his artificial heart.
And – of course – as the film progresses, the ways in which Chelios powers his heart become more and more outlandish.
Nothing is sacred in this film, with some truly over-the-top sequences that make one question the filmmakers’ sanity, but High Voltage gets away with it. The film establishes its rules early on, and for anyone that’s ever played a videogame in their life, High Voltage plays more towards that particular medium than celluloid.
It’s hard to shake the sandbox gaming comparisons, and the little touches here and there make you realize that directors, Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, must spend a large amount of time in front of their console of choice.
Without anything to ground the film, much like the original, High Voltage is little more than a thrill ride. You pay for your ticket, enjoy the run and get off. There’s nothing memorable, or truly groundbreaking. The only boundary pushed here is taste, and even that’s debatable.
The other major criticism is that the film is basically a retread of the original, just bigger and bolder. The artificial heart takes the place of poison as a plot device, with electricity needed to propel both Chelios and the film forward instead of adrenaline. It leaves the audience with a sense of deja vu; Neveldine and Taylor relying on shock instead of ingenuity.
But – hey! – High Voltage is just fun and games. And if that suffices as entertainment for you, then the film is an enjoyable romp.
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