Crank

Crank is the most unhinged action film of the 2000s, and that is a compliment. Jason Statham plays Chev Chelios, a hitman injected with a synthetic Chinese poison that will kill him if his adrenaline drops. The solution: keep his heart rate elevated by any means necessary — fights, drugs, car crashes, public sex, sticking his finger in a waffle iron. The premise is Speed applied to a human body, and directors Neveldine/Taylor execute it with a manic visual energy that matches their protagonist’s desperation.

The filmmaking is as aggressive as the action. The camera is handheld, over-cranked, under-cranked, mounted on rollerblades, and occasionally what appears to be a cell phone. Title cards pop up with energy drink aesthetics. The film never stops moving for its 88-minute runtime, and the escalation is relentless — from fistfights to car chases to Statham literally falling from a helicopter while making a phone call.

Crank is not for everyone. It is offensive, excessive, and deliberately tasteless. It is also a genuine original — the kind of gonzo action filmmaking that studios rarely greenlight and audiences either love or despise. There is no middle ground.