I was hoping for the insane highs of Crank 2, but this Neveldine/Taylor joint was a little too bland. The central metaphor – with Gerard Butler as a convict put under the control of rich gamer geeks and forced to fight for his life in a live action roleplaying game called Society (other characters, including Butler’s wife, played by Amber Valletta, seem to mostly play day-glo ravers and strippers) is utterly confused and the mechanics of the game never make any sense at all.
Even with ringers like John Leguizamo and Terry Crews, nothing interesting happens and the film quality is defiantly muddy and dull. At least The Running Man, clearly a heavy inspiration, understood that some colorful costumes might liven things up. Given the apparent chaos of the shoot, the film being such a mess hardly comes as a surprise. That said, the climactic dance number with Dexter’s Michael C. Hall almost justified the rest of the film itself. Sadly, one truly great scene was not enough to save this disaster. 1 1/2 out of 4 stars (Below average).