I think his performance in The One taught us that he should NEVER try to do an American accent again.
Anyway, I saw Crank yesterday. The short of it is that it was a very loud, stupid, incredibly entertaining movie.
The long of it:
It's not Snatch, but so far, this is the first American-marketed flick that comes close to the level of coolness he showed in that one. However, although Statham shows a little of what made him so cool in Snatch, the film itself is on a whole 'nother plane of existence. This is what Domino should've been. A hyper-stylized, frenetic, funny flick with little plot, no class, and a genuine sense of humor. I've heard from another reviewer that this movie was a little like Natural Born Killers (although his review was, uh, less-than-favorable). I'd tend to agree. It has the same high-energy, the same self-awareness, the same trippy effects (over-the-top use of picture-in-picture, CG effects, camera tricks, subtitles). However, instead of putting in a twisted character study of love and a comment on sensationalist media, Crank forgoes subtext just to be loud, stupid, and funny. It's like a live-action Grand Theft Auto, where the only mission is to get from one corner of the map to the opposite corner in only 5 minutes by any means necessary. That can either sound like a good time or a complete turn-off.
For me, it's the former. I'm fully aware that this movie is as vapid as Britney Spears, but the insanely high entertainment value of the thing plus that the fact that it revels in its ADD is what wins me over. I'd rank this movie higher than the Transporter flicks. Although they too don't aspire to be much more than entertaining movies, they've both failed to be anything better than mediocre, striking me as run-of-the-mill, action movies reminiscent of 80s/90s average star-vehicle flicks. Crank is different. It too hyperactive and aware of itself to be cliche. Even at times were it seems cliche (such as Chev coming clean to his girlfriend), it'll turn around do something completely over the top ("I'M ALIVE!!"😉. And it takes great pleasure in all of its insanity.
There's no denying what Crank is. It's a dumb-as-hell, crass, morally bankrupt flick with not much in the way of plot or even characters. Hell, I'm surprised it's still over 60% at RottenTomatoes.com. But it's also funny, inventive, energetic, and stars Statham being as cool as he's been in a good while. And that's why I loved it.
Originally posted by Strangelove
He certainly is. The only thing that even came close to being out of his norm was Cellular, and he still had the same elements of character, just no martial arts
You should see the movie London, thats the most out of norm he's been yet. He plays a Banker/Coke Dealer w/o any of the normal elements of his stereotypical charactors. Good movie, I'd recommend it.