Crank (2004) Movie Explained

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The movie begins as we are introduced to the 

protagonist named Chev. Chev is a skilled  

assassin who specializes in killing elite 

and powerful people. He works for Carlito,  

an authoritative ringleader of an enormous 

Mexican cartel. At Carlito’s request,  

Chev had assassinated Kim, a Chinese competitor 

of his employee, which earned him many angry foes.

One morning, Chev gets out of bed and immediately 

starts to experience some severe symptoms. His  

vision is blurred, and he can barely walk 

as he staggers to his living room. There,  

he finds a video disc and plays it on his 

TV. On the tape, Ricky, a fellow hitman,  

delivers a message to Chev. Ricky reveals that he 

Crank (2004) Movie Explained

injected the assassin with a toxin in his sleep,  

and discloses that the poison 

would kill him within an hour.

Chev is outraged at hearing the news, and destroys 

the TV in frustration. He immediately races to  

his car and speeds to a nearby club to look 

for Ricky. On his way there, he calls Kaylo,  

his street informant, and asks him to find the 

missing hitman, to aid him enact his revenge.

While on the steering wheel, Chev’s heartbeat 

gradually slows down as he struggles to keep  

his eyes open. Luckily, he manages to 

reach the club and barges past the door.  

Chev immediately seizes the club’s owner, 

and holds him at gunpoint. The assassin  

Crank (2004) Movie Explained

asks about Ricky’s current location, but the 

owner calmly explains that he doesn’t know.

Chev is disappointed at his answer and returns 

to his car as he speeds off. A few minutes later,  

he calls his doctor named Miles. Chev explains 

his situation to him and details the symptoms he’s  

experiencing. After some thought, Miles reveals 

that Chev was injected with a poison known as the  

“Chinese Cocktail.” The toxin is extremely fatal 

and shuts down adrenaline production in the body.

Miles advises Chev to keep moving to 

increase his body’s adrenaline production,  

as failure to do so would result in immediate 

death. The doctor also tells him that he traveled  

out of town but would return in a few hours. 

Crank (2004) Movie Explained

Chev thanks him for his advice and cuts the call.

Right then, Chev hears a loudspeaker asking 

him to pull over and spots multiple police  

vehicles behind him. Seeing this, he 

uses this as an opportunity to pump  

up his adrenaline. Instead of pulling 

over, he ignores their commands  

and drives his car into a mall, as the 

officers chase after him in hot pursuit.  

He eventually crashes the car on an escalator 

and escapes the cops through a back door.

Chev bursts out the street and races to a 

nearby taxi. He forcefully pulls out the  

passenger and enters as he shouts at the driver 

to speed off. Inside the cab, Chev follows the  

Crank (2004) Movie Explained

doctor’s instructions and keeps moving as he 

aggressively bops his head from side to side.  

After a short drive, the cab pulls over at a 

nearby supermarket, and Chev quickly enters it.

He pulls the cashier across the 

counter and threatens him with a gun.  

Chev goes around the store and collects 

a bunch of energy drinks. Afterwhich,  

he returns to the cab and 

heads to Carlito’s house.

There, he joins Carlito in his pool 

and converses with the cartel lord.  

Chev discovers that Carlito is aware of his 

predicament and even ordered it. It turns  

out that the cartel was getting attacked by 

Crank (2004) Movie Explained

the vengeful Chinese gang, following Kim’s  

assassination. Hence, Carlito decided to have 

Chev killed to make peace with the rival gang.

Chev is furious to hear this and leaves 

the house as he returns to his waiting cab.  

He throws the cab driver to the floor and steals 

his car as he races off with it. A few minutes  

later, he receives a call from Miles, who offers 

him more tips to combat the poison. The doctor  

tells him to get some shots of epinephrine, a 

synthetic version of adrenaline, from a hospital.

Chev thanks the doctor for his help and 

cuts the line as a call from Kaylo comes in.  

The informant tells him that he spotted Ricky’s 

brother, Alex, in a nearby eatery and asks Chev  

Crank (2004) Movie Explained

to come to the location. Chev is delighted by 

the news and instantly heads to the restaurant.

He patiently waits outside the premises for 

Alex and immediately attacks him as the man  

steps outside. Chev amputates Alex’s hand 

with a butcher knife and knocks him to the  

ground. The assassin grabs Alex by the collar 

and asks him about Ricky. Despite his injuries,  

Alex refuses to snitch on his brother 

and instead, tackles Chev to the ground.

Kaylo comes to Chev’s rescue and hits Alex 

on the head with a wooden stick. Alex is  

distracted by the informant, and Chev seizes 

the opportunity to shoot him from behind.

A few minutes later, Chev enters a 

Crank (2004) Movie Explained

hospital and disguises himself as a  

patient. He walks calmly down a hallway, 

but spots a pair of officers in a ward  

and immediately sprints off. The officers 

closely tail him. However, Chev manages to  

stay ahead of them as he dodges some obstructing 

patients and races down a flight of stairs.

He sights a group of medics carrying a 

patient on a stroller and rushes after  

them. He seizes a nurse and holds him at 

gunpoint as he asks for an epinephrine shot.  

The nurse is frightened and frantically 

searches the stroller cart for the drug.  

Luckily, he finds the vial and hands 

it to the hitman, who snatches it.

Crank (2004) Movie Explained

Chev feels his heart rate gradually slowing down, 

and devises a crazy plan to get it pumping. Chev  

asks the nurse to shock him with a defibrillator, 

but the medic is hesitant to do it. However,  

when Chev points a gun at him, he succumbs to 

his demands and blasts him with the device.  

The shock is immense and throws Chev 

backward as he falls into an elevator.

The officers approach the elevator door to 

arrest Chev but the hitman shoots at them,  

as they retreat and hide behind a wall. 

Chev throws a patient out of the elevator,  

and shuts the doors as he heads 

downstairs to finalize his escape.

While the elevator goes down, he uses a syringe 

Crank (2004) Movie Explained

to draw from the vial and injects himself. Sadly,  

he takes an overdose of the drug and immediately 

goes into overdrive, as he runs around the city  

hyperactively. He eventually stops when 

he sees a crowd watching TV on the street,  

and discovers that the police have 

launched a city-wide search for him.

Meanwhile, Ricky gets word of his brother’s death 

as his men deliver Alex’s decapitated hand to him.  

Ricky is livid to discover 

that Chev is responsible,  

and decides to find and permanently kill him.

In the other end of the city, Chev is concerned 

about his girlfriend, Eve, and calls to check  

on her. He is relieved to hear her voice, 

Crank (2004) Movie Explained

and tells her he’d be at her house shortly.  

An unsuspecting Eve doesn’t think much of it 

and kisses him goodbye as she cuts the call.

A minute later, Chev spots a policeman on a bike  

and grabs his gun as he threatens the officer 

to back away. Chev steals the bike and taunts  

the cop by driving around in circles 

before ultimately speeding to Eve’s house.

There, he urges her to get dressed, and 

the couple heads out of the apartment.  

Outside, he spots one of Ricky’s men 

and trips Eve’s bag to distract her.  

While she picks it up, Chev attacks the thug 

and snaps his neck, before dumping him in  

a nearby pool. Chev returns to Eve, and the 

Crank (2004) Movie Explained

couple goes downtown to a local restaurant.

While they wait for their meal, Chev reveals 

to Eve that he is a professional assassin.  

He explains his current situation to her, and 

informs her that she is in grave danger. Eve is  

startled to hear this and believes Chev made the 

story up to indirectly break up with her. Livid,  

she storms out of the restaurant 

while Chev closely follows her.

He grabs her hand but immediately feels his 

heartbeat slowing down as he drops to the floor.  

To kickstart his heart, Chev asks Eve to pump his 

adrenaline by doing “an activity” in the middle of  

the street. Eve initially refuses and calls him 

crazy, but gets turned on when he kisses her.  

Crank (2004) Movie Explained

Eventually, the couple passionately do “that 

activity” while the staring crowd cheers them on.

Right then, Chev receives a call from Kaylo, who 

informs him that Ricky is at a nearby warehouse.  

Hearing this, Chev pulls his pants 

back on and kisses Eve goodbye  

before heading off to the revealed 

location. Eve also puts on her  

clothes as the spectators disperse and 

continue with their respective lives.

When Chev reaches the warehouse, he 

finds Carlito’s men waiting for him,  

and discovers that Kaylo is dead. 

Chev realizes that his boss, Carlito  

ordered his assassination, as the thugs 

Crank (2004) Movie Explained

tortured Kaylo to lure him to the warehouse.

An agitated Chev shoots and kills two of the 

men as a gunfight ensues. A few moments later,  

Chev spots Eve in the building’s elevator 

and is astonished to see her. He immediately  

races to the elevator while using Kaylo’s 

corpse as a shield from the thugs’ shots.  

However, just as Chev jumps into the 

elevator, a bullet hits him in the leg.

The couple takes the lift to the ground floor, 

where a group of tailors are sewing clothes.  

Chev ambushes one of the thugs and 

shoves his hand in a sewing machine.  

The man screams in agony, while Chev and Eve leave 

the building as they drive away in a stolen car.

Crank (2004) Movie Explained

Carlito’s men also enter their cars, 

and pursue the couple in a fiery chase.  

Chev speeds away in a quest to lose 

his foes, but the thugs are resilient,  

and shoot at Chev to stop him. Luckily, 

the shots only hit the car’s back window,  

and Chev quickly returns fire. His shots hit the 

men, and ultimately cause their cars to crash.

After they complete their getaway, Chev receives a 

call from Miles, who tells him he’s back in town.  

Chev is relieved to hear this and immediately 

heads to the doctor’s residence. There,  

Miles gives him an epinephrine infusion 

to further stall the poison’s progression.  

However, the physician clearly explains to 

Crank (2004) Movie Explained

him that there is no antidote for the toxin,  

and he’s sure to die in a couple hours. 

Miles offers to give him a painless poison  

to help him die easier, but Chev refuses, citing 

that he still has a score to settle with Ricky.

A few minutes later, Chev calls Ricky 

and asks to meet in a nearby hotel.  

Ricky accepts the offer and agrees to meet 

him. Afterwhich, Chev cuts the call. The  

hitman kisses Eve goodbye and promises to 

return as he heads for the meeting venue.

Chev loads his gun in the hotel’s 

bathroom, and hides it under his coat  

before entering an elevator. He goes 

Crank (2004) Movie Explained

to the top floor and is welcomed by two  

of Ricky’s men. The duo aggressively 

collects his gun and ushers him to Ricky.

Chev finds Carlito and Ricky sitting side by 

side on a couch. After exchanging pleasantries,  

Carlito pulls out a syringe containing 

the “Chinese Cocktail” from his briefcase.  

Crank (2004) Movie Explained

Carlito asks his men to hold Chev down, as he 

prepares to inject the hitman with another dose  

of the poison. Thus, killing him for good.

However, before the thugs can make a move, 

one of them is shot in the head. Carlito’s  

gang is shocked to see this, but soon realizes 

that a rival gang standing behind Chev took  

the shot. When Carlito looks at the gang, he is 

astonished to discover that they are led by Kim.

In a flashback scene, we see that Chev spared 

Crank (2004) Movie Explained

Kim’s life and asked the gang leader to get  

out of town for a few days. Kim obliged, and 

word spread to the streets that he was dead.  

However, he has been alive and in hiding, the 

entire time. Hence, to show his appreciation,  

Kim brought along his gang to 

save Chev from his cunny employer.

The Chinese mafia opens 

fire on Carlito and his men,  

as the gang scatters to dodge the oncoming shots. 

Crank (2004) Movie Explained

Ricky holds his gun to shoot the rival gang,  

but Chev throws a wine bottle at 

him, which chops off his fingers.

Meanwhile, Carlito hides behind a wall and 

calls his pilot to land a helicopter on the  

roof. A few seconds later, Chev spots Carlito as 

he leaves the area and goes up a flight of stairs.  

Chev closely follows the gang leader and 

stops him just as he enters the helicopter.

Crank (2004) Movie Explained

Right then, Ricky sneaks behind Chev 

and injects him with the second dose  

of the poison. Carlito screams at Ricky 

for ghosting him during the shootout,  

prompting the angered hitman to 

shoot the ringleader in the chest.  

Ricky throws Carlito’s body out of the chopper 

and tells the pilot to start the aircraft.

As the chopper takes flight, Chev grabs the 

door and attacks Ricky. The two men have a  

fist fight high up the sky, and eventually 

Crank (2004) Movie Explained

fall from the aircraft. While in the air,  

Chev grabs Ricky’s neck and sharply snaps it. 

Thus, finally completing his revenge mission.  

Shortly after, Chev lands on a car and 

bounces off it, as he drops to the floor.

The movie ends as Chev stares wide-eyed 

at the camera and blinks. Hence,  

signifying that he is still alive.

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