Crank 2 exhausting and turbo-charged

Crank 2: High Voltage (Cert 18, 91 mins, Action/Comedy/Romance)

In Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor’s 2006 action-thriller Crank, Jason Statham played a hit-man who combated a deadly and powerful toxin, injected into him, by maximising the amount of adrenaline in his system.

For the sequel, Statham reprises his role as bruiser Chev Chelios in a storyline that continues directly after the explosive exploits of the original film.

Chev wakes to discover that an enigmatic Chinese mobster has ripped out his heart and replaced the vital organ with a battery-operated ticker that will stop unless he gives himself regular jolts of electricity.

Directed and edited at a furious pace which becomes exhausting well before the end credits roll, Crank 2: High Voltage takes all of the elements of the first film and turbo-charges them to ridiculous extremes.

Rating: ***