Jason Statham plays Chev Chelios, a Los Angeles hit-man. One morning following a hit, he awakes feeling drugged and sluggish. He finds a DVD planted by rival mobster Verona, which informs him that he has been injected with a drug known as a Beijing Cocktail, which will slow his adrenaline production and lead to his death within an hour. Chelios forces himself out of bed and sets out on a rampage across Los Angeles to locate his girlfriend Eve, who isn't answering her phone, get an antidote from his doctor, who has left town, find Verona and exact revenge, and most importantly, go to whatever extreme ends he must to keep his adrenaline pumping every second of the way.Chev catches up with Eve and makes contact with his doctor, both of whom aid him in keeping his adrenaline up. He finds and enters Verona's lair, only to be told that no antidote to the Cocktail exists.