The Transporter

I still rate this pretty high even if the last 10 minutes got totally out of hand and went crazy, action-wise. By "out-of-hand," I mainly refer to the usual excessive action and bad guys-keep-missing-good guys-even-from-short range-type mentality. Actually, a lot of the film is that but it's such a fun movie that I didn't care.

Jason Statham is very cool in the lead and it's he that makes this a decent film. I also enjoyed Shu Qi, a very pretty woman; the witty dialog of Francois Berleand and some stylish, tongue-in-cheek directing by Louis Leterrier and Corey Yuen. Another director whose films are known for their hip styles also co- wrote this: Luc Besson.

Some of the action scenes are outrageous. To Statham's credit, he did most of the action scenes himself. I guess he's a tough guy in real life, too. He's pretty amazing.

A no-brainer-but lots of fun movie.

There's no question that Luc Besson is one of Europe's biggest action producers. I mean with the cult classics "La Femme Nikita" (1991) and "The Professional" (1994) behind him, he's basically been given the green-light for every big action picture he comes across. One of his latest and most ambitious projects was "The Transporter," released in 2002.

I have to admit this is one flick I approached with a very open mind - very open. I mean, I like Jason Statham. I think he's a pretty cool guy and at first, even I questioned his casting as Frank Martin in "The Transporter." But the problem is, and I'm assuming this is the result of the quickly edited action scenes (which were toned down to make the film "PG-13"), he's not being given the room to really be the best he can be.

As the lead character, he's a transporter. He can get you, your associates or your property anywhere, anytime, on time, no questions asked. But you know what? Common sense tells us that it was curiosity that killed the cat, and the cat in this picture thankfully doesn't die some horrible death but instead, curiosity yields him a break - a beautiful woman named Lai (Shu Qi) - bound and gagged, and in the trunk of his BMW.

It's not spoiling much that she and Frank get together and as a result, are forced to do battle with shady and vicious American businessman Wall Street (Matt Schulze) and his army of high-kicking, disposable assassins. There's a little more to the plot and Lai, and the circumstances surrounding her appearance in the trunk of Frank's car, and it involves some smuggling of poor Chinese immigrants from China to Europe, where much of the action takes place.

Speaking of action and there's plenty of it, Statham does display some pretty impressive moves but the frantic editing just doesn't do him justice. He obviously worked out for this part and there are frequent moments when his ripped torso is on display. He also (barely) manages to shy away any possible accusations that he's just a British novelty to American audiences. Director Corey Yuen (whose work on Jet Li's 2001 action film "Kiss of the Dragon" I admired), is behind it and Besson's got a producer credit.

The problem may not be Statham because I think he's a really cool actor with a raspy British accent, but the script is worth some deeper examination by more thoughtful minds. There are plenty of holes and unanswered questions (i.e., the extent of Frank's military training and experiences, Lai and how she wound up with Frank and her quarrelsome relationship with her father who is played by Ric Young, and the plot with the Chinese smuggling).

But why am I making such complaints? "The Transporter" is an action movie; no plot required. Despite some bumps in the road, "The Transporter" is pure action fun from beginning to end, and I got my free ticket to see "The Transporter 2" on Friday.

7/10

Back in the 1990s Luc Besson was a top action director in the US and France, best known for films like Leon and Nikita. In the early part of the 21st Century, he turned to producing and one of his major hits was The Transporter, the film that made Jason Statham into an action star.

Frank Martin (Statham) is an ex-military man who turned into a driver for hire in the South of France. He lives by three rules: No.1 never change the deal, No.2 no names, No.3 never open the package. But on a job he opens the package to find a Chinese woman (Shu Qi) tied up and gag, resulting with him crossing an American gangster, Bettencourt (Matt Schulze) who wants Frank dead. Frank has to work with the woman, Lai, and a police detective, Inspector Tarconi (François Berléand), to bring down Bettencourt and his operator.

The Transporter takes a basic B-Movie plot and story and gives it an MTV flash. The highlight of the film is action sequences which director Corey Yuen injected a load of fun elements with martial arts, gun battles, an axe fight and the famous oil fight scene. There are flashy moments like when a gun is in the air and the downwards camera on a gun when a machine gun magazine clip drops to the ground. There is some weak CGI but it is rare and the best parts of the action is the practical effects and stunt work. The real problem with the action is at times there was too much quick cutting which made some of the action sequence and it made them hard to follow: this was the particularly the case with the fight in the bus which was too tight, too close and overly edited. The best sequence for me was the highway chase because it was easier to tell what was happening and for the most part the fighting and gun fights were well done.

The Transporter was Statham's first leading role outside of Guy Ritchie's films. He had the action chops with his physique and his martial arts ability and he was already showing his shy wit. But he gave his character a weak American accent which kept slipping. Likely Statham had enough charisma and was able to give Frank enough menace in his look. Statham also had very good chemistry with Qi who did have charm as Lai. The pair worked well and were surprisingly believable in the context of their world.

The Transporter lacked a threaten villain: Schulze played his role more as a man who is partier then a ruthless crime lord who will kill anyone who crosses him. Schulze's performance also did not help giving the character smug, frat boy characteristics. The film also introduces a character called Leon who was able to beat up and knock out Frank, leading you to think that there is going to be a showdown between the characters: but it never comes about, which is very disappointing.

Stanley Clarke gave The Transporter a more modern, techno score which was fitting for the most part, especially when it becomes pumping for the action sequences near the end. The score combined by the French setting reminded me a little bit of The Bourne Identity. But The Bourne Identity is a much more intelligentially stimulating film.

The Transporter is a very paced actioner that does not rest. There are fine action sequences throughout the film and a decent start to The Stath's action persona: but this is a film for Statham fans.

The first time I watched this movie, I was hooked, I think it is a sleeper cult classic.

This movie has all the makings of a great testosterone flick. It starts with a wild car chase in France, introduces some memorable phrases, adds an attractive woman and antagonist with a very bad hair piece. There is also the required explosions and fight scenes, but they are not over-the-top.

The plot is not spectacular, but hey, it's a guy movie. Jason Statham makes a great tough guy, loved him in The Italian Job as well.

I recommend inviting your friends over, grabbing some Orangina, and watching this great movie.

All action movies should strive to be this imaginative! OK, the plot was not particularly intriguing, but what action movie's actually is? But the plot was secondary to the action, it only served to make the bad guys bad and the good guys good. The rest was up to Jason Statham's considerable fighting talents.

There were some unbelievable yet jaw-dropping stunts, a terrific fight scene in oil, and some great car chase scenes. There were no smarmy one-liners making light of good action sequences as is too often the case in American-directed action flicks. The hero was cold, yet compassionate. He didn't kill unnecessarily, but when he had to, he was ruthless. There are many great action sequences, some so unbelievable you have to just shake your head and remember that action movies are not supposed to be based on reality. There is even a great shot of the hero jumping off a speeding semi while it races over a bridge onto the back of a bus going perpendicular to the truck under the bridge!! I mean, come on! It would never happen, but I have to give credit to the stunt coordinator who imagined the possibilities.

There is another hilarious scene where the hero chases down an airplane on foot, hijacks it, jumps out of the plane at great altitude in order to land on the back of a speeding transport with a conveniently located borrowed parachute! I am glad all crop dusters carry such indispensable equipment and that it is so easy to land on the back of a truck speeding down the highway at 130 KM/hour.

All in all, 90 minutes of sheer enjoyment. Even with the predictable ending, I have to highly recommend this movie. If you can suspend belief for a little while, you will be rewarded.