10 Movie Sequels Nobody Asked For But Ended Up Being Awesome
2. Crank: High Voltage
Jason Statham's 2006 actioner Crank was one of the most unique and energetic genre films of its decade, focused on British hitman Chev Chelios as he attempts to keep his adrenaline flowing in order to prevent a poison from stopping his heart.
In their directorial debuts, Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor made the absolute best of the nutty premise, blending off-the-wall humour with brutal violence and one of Statham's most entertaining performances.
But considering that Chev appears to die at the end after falling out of a helicopter, eyebrows were raised when a sequel was announced.
Many scoffed at the idea that Crank: High Voltage would seemingly just rehash the original concept for a quick buck, but when audiences sat down to watch the movie for themselves - which, to add some excitement, wasn't screened for critics - they had no idea the insanity that was lying in wait.
This is one of the most ambitious, creative, and unexpected sequels ever made, taking what worked about the original and injecting it with a totally unhealthy dose of mescaline.
High Voltage ditches the original's already loose sense of realism with its surreal dream sequences, insane action, and again, a wonderfully manic Statham performance.
This is a film where Statham and one of his foes end up spontaneously turning into kaijus and smacking the tar out of each other, because why the hell not?
It is a film that knew exactly how to make a most unlikely, potentially lazy sequel seem anything but. It's just a shame the much-demanded Crank 3D still hasn't materialised.