Review in a Hurry: Have you ever chugged three Red Bulls right before a game of Grand Theft Auto? This ADD-infused action sequel—in which hitman Chev Chelios (Jason Statham) survives a King Kong-like sidewalk plunge only to promptly wake up and have his heart cut out and replaced with a battery—is a bit like that. Except even less family friendly.
The Bigger Picture: It's very, very tough to describe this movie without using unprintable language, and absolutely impossible to quote any of the dialogue. Suffice it to say that just about every bad thing imaginable happens to anyone who stands between Chev and his stolen heart.
While the original Crank maintained at least the semblance of reality, implying that the movie's over-the-top qualities were mainly hallucinated by its drugged-out hero, the sequel jettisons all pretense immediately, from the moment the closing scene of part one is reenacted as an 8-bit Nintendo-style game.
This time around, rather than keeping his adrenaline up, Chev has to keep his low-energy battery from running out of power, the solution to which is electrocuting himself at regular intervals.
Every woman onscreen (including a returning Amy Smart as Chev's long-suffering stoner girlfriend Eve) is a naked hooker or stripper, while every man is a complete psychopath with some bizarre quirk, from Clifton Collins Jr. as an evil Elvis impersonator to Efren Ramirez as a gay biker with something called Full Body Tourette's, and even David Carradine playing a 100-year-old Chinese gangster named Poon Dong.
Don't even ask about the Godzilla sequence—it must be seen to be believed.
Co-directors Neveldine and Taylor, who don't go by their first names anymore, were not only clearly inspired by crazed Japanese auteur Takashi Miike (Ichi the Killer, Audition), but they may have even outdone him in many respects.
The only reason this gets an A- instead of an A is that the original was, well, original. The new, more fantastical elements give things a fresh enough infusion, however, that it'll still rock your world, especially with Faith No More's Mike Patton on soundtrack duties. Be sure to stay through the end credits for some hilariously demented outtakes.
The 180—a Second Opinion: As perhaps you can imagine, there is something to offend everyone in this film and induce headaches or nausea in people susceptible to such things. Plus no kid should be allowed to see it, ever.