Yeah, uh. No.

By "best out there," I do mean best action star. Name one better.



So it's Statham's fault that his character is the same as his character in The Transporter? If that's how the character is supposed to be, that's how it is. I don't see how his "acting abilities" are not good because of this.

You're not really defending why he's bad, just throwing out a bunch of laughing emoticons.

As long as his "previous characters" were awesome, I don't see a problem with that.

His character wasn't that great either. I never said the writing was fantastic or that the character development of the film was great. I merely commented that Statham did a poor job in the role. The writing wasn't great though so I don't think any actor could of done much better in that sort of a role. That doesn't excuse Statham as being good though.

And I think Samuel L. Jackson is a better action film star. So is Bruce Willis. There are others. Statham is bland and that is my opinion.

But they weren't. The Transporter series sucked.

Both are great, but what I meant (and probably did Zing as well) are "newer" action stars, not those who have been around for over a decade. Vin Diesel? Paul Walker??

I don't really think there are any "great" or even "good" action stars that can be defined as "newer".

Statham is one. In fact, I'd say he is giving me a Bruce Willis vibe as far as his charisma goes.

I don't consider him great or really all that good. He was the worst thing about The Transporter (the sequel had other problems) and he was the second worst thing about Crank (preceeded by Amy Smart).

That's my opinion, you still want to go back and forth over it?

He's kinda hot.

Crank worked better as a comedy, I'd say. I just couldn't stop laughing when he yelled "Al-Queda!" at the taxi driver and drove off, as well the open sex-scene in the heart of Chinatown.

The film is great fun and just flat-out INSANE. It never, ever lets go. The style and editing of the film is interesting - it's pretty much like playing a video game or watching a music video. Sometimes you're in fast-motion, sometimes slow-motion, sometimes freeze frames... the film just keeps new and fun ways of presenting all the crazy stuff that's going on, instead of just going at a boring, medium pace. And despite but sssssome may think, Jason Statham is currently the best of the new generation action stars. Yeah, the character's pretty much just his usual old character, but so what? He was born to play a hitman (although I wouldn't mind seeing him in other roles, he's a good actor). The film never takes itself seriously ("Do you think I have the word 'cunt' on my forehead?!") either. The biggest setback for Crank that's preventing me from giving this a higher mark is what Benny and makeshift mentioned earlier - no memorable action sequences. This "straight-up action flick" has a lot of action, but it's mostly just repetitive scenes with nothing really stand-out. But it's quite a ride anyways, and one of the more fun films of the year.

B+

Eh... first you throw in a few laughing emotions at everyone who said that Jason Statham's a good action star, and especially when you're in the minority, you should be backing up your laughter with actual points. Now you're all annoyed and saying, "well, it's my opinion!" So I guess I should just laugh at your opinion, too, right?

If you don't like Statham, fine, it's your opinion, but if you're going to laugh at the majority, at least give REASONING or it's hard to take your opinion seriously.

...what the hell?

Seriously, I made a few snide comments, pardon me for not laying out a detailed explanation of exactly why I think Jason Statham is not a good actor. Next time shall I include a 10 point bulleted list? Or perhaps a 3 page double spaced essay?

Yeah, quit with the snipiness, this is a review forum, it is pretty much established from the beginning that these are my opinions, and opinions are opinions. I made comments on his "great performance" with my opinion on the matter. I don't see you backing up your opinion of why he did such a great job. Oh that's right, must be another one way street, eh?

Good god I cannot believe I am getting in to this stupid debate.

Oh, and by the way, last time I checked, two laughing emoticons is not "a bunch".

And last time I checked, "...?" and "yeah, uh. no" are not really explanations as to why he's a bad actor. And I didn't really feel that I had to back up my argument since no one (so far) seems to agree with you.

But okaaaay. If you think he sucks, cool.

I'll back up my argument when I feel it needs to be backed up (see BKB's latest Bond thread), however this is clearly an opinion thread.

You don't really back up your arguments do you?

ANYTHING can be considered an opinion thread on a forum.

If I'm in the minority and my opinion is being questioned... yeah, I'll back it up. Bad example (because I didn't actually see it) but a recent one would be the LMS thread in the Cinemania where pretty much everyone questioned my reasoning and I backed it up.

Or, I could just say "Um, no, you're all wrong, but I have no reason why."

Like I said, whatever. Not going anywhere.

I disagreed early on with a few comments in direct regard to Jason Statham. My "yeah, um. No" comment was in direct response to a comment from makeshift that was a comment to an opinion that I had backed up.

You are going in circles Zing. I backed up what I needed to back up. Here you go, a bulleted list:

• Has 4-5 facial expressions max
• Characters are always the same, or small changes to the same character
• Dialogue is delivered poorly
• Does not develop his character

There you go, four reasons why I think Jason Statham is a poor actor. Now I'm leaving this debate because I'm sorry, its fucking retarded.

The movie was fucking awesome.

Everything clicked.

The End.

9.4/10 A

SPOILERS











Saw this movie today and really liked it. The only thing I didn't like was the unrealistic shootout at the end. How can the Mexicans not see the Chinese lining up behind Statham?

Anyway, the movie was very entertaining, and I recommend it for a mindless action flick.

i thought it was pretty fnny at times but basically really stupid. and boring. but it did a pretty good job of getting across visually what (i imagine) the character must have been feeling. so yeah, just kinda suck.

Isn't strange how a film that is nearly non-stop action could be so boring?

Well I actually saw this today, and I'm surprised that most people will probably agree with me...

The film is very funny, it's almost a comedy, it's just so over the top and ridiculous with it's use of editing and music and visuals.

The problem I have is that the action (in a Jason S action movie no doubt) SUCKS. There isn't even a good gun battle or anything. When he walked into the shirt factory and there was like 6 guys standing about I was all like "okay he's going to lay the whoop ass on them all at once..." but no. Not even a good car chase sequence (it was more focused on his blow job... which WAS funny... but).

And yeah, the editing keeps it going but it's not shot well either.

Smart is used effectively in one scene, and "used" is the apporpirate word.

But I actually thought it slowed down in the end.

So yeah, it makes the Transporter films, which although horrible are well shot and have good action, seem like Oscar nominees.

Any film that has a scene where the lead is getting a BJ while on a high speed chase gets major points in my book.

It was over the top non-stop action from start to finish. The 3rd act became quite odd, even for this film and kinda slowed down a bit ( but hell, it's hard not to slow down after that first hour ) a bit but it still was one hell of a ride.

B+

My expectations were pretty shitty going into Crank, as I haven't had any internet for two weeks and only knew that it wasn't screened for critics due to no review in the paper. The premise sounded great but the trailers were underwhelming. Perhaps because I was expecting it to be fun but not have any very good action I was so entertained by this... thing. After a lame first twenty or so minutes, the film builds momentum, and I loved it's completely fucking nuts ridiculousness. The MTV on acid style and complete disregard for any semblance of logic or reality worked for me because it was so clearly intentional, and I thought it was one of the more accurate depictions of how mind altering substances can affect someone. Movies where the people who smoke pot and see dancing green midgets really have a tendency to get on my nerves, so this was a refreshing approach. It'd be far too easy to just say Crank is an overly violent, offensive piece of shit. The filmmakers weren't trying to make Crank anything else, and while I don't disagree that more elaborate set pieces would've been appreciated, it's something of a marvel that the movie was made for 12 million dollars, something far too many action movies can waste for a single minute or two of footage. B

B+


Zing summed it up pretty well there.

It was the most insane, absurd, crazy and over-the-top film I have seen in a long time. I mean the premise in itself is absurd enough, but the execution is like Asian cinema on a lot of LSD. It all starts with the first car chase through the mall and from then on it is just crazy, crazy, crazy. The film is fast, very fast and there is something happening nonstop. Not a single slow moment there. Yes, the movie is extremely violent at times. It is offensive, racist, sexist, clichéd and plain mean, but you know what? It takes pride in all that. It realizes how absurd the whole thing is and pushes it to the max. I don't think anyone should be offended by it by the time the final scenes of the film pass. By then it should be fairly clear how over the top the whole thing is and that it never takes itself seriously.

The thing, however, is that it really does not have great action, but you simply don't notice that during the viewing. It seems action-packed. However, when I went out of the theatres and reflected on the film a bit I realized that in fact there are only very few plain action scenes here. I also thought that the "stylish" cinematography was overdone and distracting at times (though I wouldn't expect anything different from a film like this).

I was not bored for a second. Jason Statham is as cool as ever, Amy Smart is easy on the eye and some of the setpieces are simply insane and will have you immensly entertained. I liked it more than the Transporter films. They had better action, no question about that, but they also were generic. This one wasn't.

Who can forget "Al Qaeda! Al Qaeda!"?! I was laughing till my stomach hurt. And then Chinatown...