Crank

  • Review Date: January 7, 2007
  • R
  • Genre: Thriller
  • 2006
Review

Common Sense Media says

Stylish, depraved, speedy action. Not for kids.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

AGE
14
QUALITY
 

Kids say

AGE
15
QUALITY
 

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this movie is absolutely not for kids. It's designed to convey hectic, bloody, and relentless action. Violence includes shooting, needle jabbing, punching, kicking, stabbing, and falling. A couple has sex in public, upsetting and titillating a crowd on the street and in vehicles (skin not explicit, but act is rendered with heavy breathing and clothes-tearing). Scenes include bikinied and topless women, pole-dancers in thongs, and naked women encased in glass balls, apparently as decorations). A doctor's advice seems shady (he suggests smoking marijuana to calm down). Hero uses the n-word and other disparaging language to incite aggression and display his tough-guyness. Lots of profanity and drug use.

  • Positive messages0
    Hitman wants to go straight, but is poisoned before he can; he seeks revenge on his killers before he dies, causing mayhem.
  • Violence5
    Frequent bloody fights, shoot-outs; flashbacks to Chev with gun pointed at his last target; DVD shows Chev that Ricky stuck needle in his neck; hand chopped off with meat cleaver (hand then picked up, bloody and gross); Chev shoots thug in head (bloody splatters); Chev burns his own hand in a waffle iron (to gross effect); Kaylo suffocated with plastic bag; Eve hits Chev; fight on helicopter; fall from helicopter to death.
  • Sex5
    Repeated shots of women in scant outfits, including strippers on poles, topless women around a pool, and naked women in glass balls; Chev runs through hospital/streets in hospital gown (you see his bare bottom, briefly, and a quick shot shows his giant erection under the gown); Eve and Chev have sex in the street in Chinatown; Eve performs oral sex on Chev while he drives (below frame); cross-dressing characters; references to "whores" and use of sexual slang.
  • Language5
    Over 100 f-words, plus various other obscenities, all uttered in rage and frenzy ("'s--t," "damn"); disparaging uses of n-word (used by white man against black men to incite their violence), "faggot," and "Al-Qaeda" (Chev yells this about an Arabic man, to ensure he'll be tackled by crowd on the street).
  • Consumerism0
    Not applicable.
  • Drinking, drugs, & smoking5
    Brief cigarette smoking; Chev snorts coke to stimulate his adrenaline; he inhales bottles of nose spray to ingest epinephrine; he injects himself with a needle of epinephrine; doctor advises he smoke "grass" Eve asks if Chev wants "pot;" cabbie calls Chev a "crackhead" and gives him a "Haitian" drug; villain drinks champagne; doctor says he's treated Chev with meth.
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What's the story?

Borrowing its slim storyline from the 1950 film noir D.O.A. (starring Edmond O'Brien), CRANK follows the life-and-death situation of hitman Chev ( Jason Statham), who is poisoned and has a limited time to find his killer and exact revenge. Chev swears he wants to go straight in order to please his mightily naïve girlfriend Eve (Amy Smart). Chev's pursuit of his killer, the utterly arrogant Ricky Verona (Jose Pablo Contillo), leads to run-ins with any number of brutish and shady sorts, including drug dealers, assassins, gang members, and thugs. Chev appears to be a softie at heart--he saves Eve from villains, impresses her with his devotion, but can't overcome the effects of the deadly toxin. In order that the movie can race along for its 87 minutes, Chev is able to slow the poison by keeping his adrenaline geared up -- this according to an absurd diagnosis rendered by his doctor (Dwight Yoakam).

Is it any good?

 

Elaborately aggressive and provocative, Crank is just what its title suggests: fast, ornery, and exhausting. Logic is not this movie's strong suit; it's like a ride, one crazy bit of business after another. Chev spends his last minutes on earth trying to jar himself into excitement, taunting various enemies into fights, having sex with his girlfriend in the street, chasing and shooting goons point blank, stealing epinephrine from the hospital, driving very fast and jumping from an airplane -- without a parachute.

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What families can talk about

Families can talk about the effects of adrenaline: How does it distort judgment and behavior? How does the movie exaggerate action movie conventions, with regard to speed, style, and content? How does this exaggeration make fun of these conventions, or how does it reinforce the "video-gamey" effect of such films? How would you describe Chev's relationship with his girlfriend? Does he respect her? How well does she know him?

This review was written by Cynthia Fuchs
Adult
January 10, 2010
AGE
15
 
good not for kids 15 and up
yo parents kids shouldn't see this it will mess there minds up light nudity intense killing 15 and over
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Kid, 12 years old
October 4, 2009
AGE
17
 
yippi cai ya
this movie is trash!
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Teen, 14 years old
October 4, 2009
AGE
17
 
yippi cai ya
this movie is trash!
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Helped me decide (8) | Had useful details (7) | Read my mind (7)
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Kid, 11 years old
October 4, 2009
AGE
17
 
yippi cai ya
this movie is trash!
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Teen, 15 years old
April 10, 2010
AGE
14
 
good for some people 14 and up
i liked it it was a little too violent for people with impressionable minds
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Adult
September 11, 2009
AGE
14
 
Wow
I bought this movie because i figured it would be alright but wow i was wrong.. Right from the opening of the movie all the way to the end its a nonstop relentless stream of bloody violence and constant strong language. It reminded me of Grand Thet Auto.
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Teen, 17 years old
April 17, 2009
AGE
14
 
Crank keeps your adreneline going.
Crank is one of Jason Statham's best work, probably because it's an R rated ride that is not really for kids. Unlike Transporter 3 and others "Crsnk" has style and cool, even though i say this this isn't for everyone the movie is extremely violent and crude adult sex but if you think you're mature enough see it.
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Parent of 8 year old
March 7, 2011
AGE
14
 
BAD MOVIE FOR KIDS
this is a bad movie for kids. Javahostindo Web Hosting Indonesia
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Teen, 17 years old
January 15, 2011
AGE
17
 
Awsome
Awsome but so not for kids!
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Teen, 14 years old
April 19, 2009
AGE
16
 
NOT FOR KIDS
one of the worst movies iv'e seen
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This review was written by Cynthia Fuchs
Studio:Lionsgate
Directors:Brian Taylor, Mark Neveldine
Cast:Amy Smart, Dwight Yoakam, Jason Statham
Genre:Thriller
Run time:87 minutes
Theatrical release date:September 1, 2006
DVD release date:January 9, 2007
MPAA rating:R
MPAA explanation:strong violence, pervasive language, sexuality, nudity and drug use
This review was written by Cynthia Fuchs
 

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ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
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