U.S. Release Date: October 11, 2002
Distributor: Fox
Director: Louis Leterrier
Writer: Luc Besson
Producer: Luc Besson
Cast: Jason Statham
Running Time: 1 hour and 32 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (violent sequences and some sensuality)
Review:
With Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone and Harrison Ford all eligible for membership in the AARP, American cinema is in desperate need for a new action star. The Transporter provides perhaps the best candidate the movies have had since Vin Diesel's pale XXX.
Jason Statham (Snatch) plays laconic ex-Special Forces hero Frank Martin, the transporter of the title. Martin is a thorough professional who lives by a personal code which requires that deals remain set and final, that he never look in the package he is transporting, and that he never exchange names with or inquire about the motivations of his employers.
It is a set of rules that have served him well and are amply illustrated in the picture's opening over-the-top car chase through the streets of Cannes. Martin is an action hero who thinks as much as he acts, which Statham conveys in his set expression and easy self-assurance. Despite his principles, he is not a "good guy" in the conventional sense. In the beginning of the movie, he drives the getaway car for a group of bank robbers and shows no regret when one of the robbers gets killed in order to conform to the pre-set specifications of his contract.
It is during Martin's next job that his world is turned upside after he notices the package in the trunk of his car is actually a human being. His conscience getting the best of him, he breaks his own rules and opens the package, which turns out to be a beautiful girl named Lai (Shu Qi from Jackie Chan's Gorgeous). Now,Martin must make a choice between his lone wolf, no-questions-asked existence or the life Lai offers him—one that includes love and values humanity over money.
The Transporter has no pretensions of being more than what it is—a rollercoaster group of action sequences. And it works, for the most part. Statham is excellent in the action sequences and what few dramatic moments he has are suitably low key and surprisingly realistic. There is no self-deprecating humor, nor any annoying one-liners a la XXX. But there aren't many of those moments, as the movie is too obsessed with its hyperkinetic chases and booming soundtrack.
But for all that the picture does right from an action standpoint, it does quite a bit wrong. The story, what little there is, runs out of steam after about an hour, and the final chase involving a truck convoy is right out of Raiders of the Lost Ark. And though we get an explanation about why Martin has become a transporter, a little more back story would have been welcome. Shu Qi's Lai is a weak character who vacillates too much between being a victim and a heroine. In addition, Qi's thick accent makes her line delivery a little flat, particularly with the movie's few attempts at humor.
But the point of The Transporter is the action, and there's plenty of it. I must admit, however, by the end, I had pretty much lost interest in the whole business. There was just too much action and not enough story. C.A. Wolski
Distributor: Fox
Director: Louis Leterrier
Writer: Luc Besson
Producer: Luc Besson
Cast: Jason Statham
Running Time: 1 hour and 32 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (violent sequences and some sensuality)
Review:
With Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone and Harrison Ford all eligible for membership in the AARP, American cinema is in desperate need for a new action star. The Transporter provides perhaps the best candidate the movies have had since Vin Diesel's pale XXX.
Jason Statham (Snatch) plays laconic ex-Special Forces hero Frank Martin, the transporter of the title. Martin is a thorough professional who lives by a personal code which requires that deals remain set and final, that he never look in the package he is transporting, and that he never exchange names with or inquire about the motivations of his employers.
It is a set of rules that have served him well and are amply illustrated in the picture's opening over-the-top car chase through the streets of Cannes. Martin is an action hero who thinks as much as he acts, which Statham conveys in his set expression and easy self-assurance. Despite his principles, he is not a "good guy" in the conventional sense. In the beginning of the movie, he drives the getaway car for a group of bank robbers and shows no regret when one of the robbers gets killed in order to conform to the pre-set specifications of his contract.
It is during Martin's next job that his world is turned upside after he notices the package in the trunk of his car is actually a human being. His conscience getting the best of him, he breaks his own rules and opens the package, which turns out to be a beautiful girl named Lai (Shu Qi from Jackie Chan's Gorgeous). Now,Martin must make a choice between his lone wolf, no-questions-asked existence or the life Lai offers him—one that includes love and values humanity over money.
The Transporter has no pretensions of being more than what it is—a rollercoaster group of action sequences. And it works, for the most part. Statham is excellent in the action sequences and what few dramatic moments he has are suitably low key and surprisingly realistic. There is no self-deprecating humor, nor any annoying one-liners a la XXX. But there aren't many of those moments, as the movie is too obsessed with its hyperkinetic chases and booming soundtrack.
But for all that the picture does right from an action standpoint, it does quite a bit wrong. The story, what little there is, runs out of steam after about an hour, and the final chase involving a truck convoy is right out of Raiders of the Lost Ark. And though we get an explanation about why Martin has become a transporter, a little more back story would have been welcome. Shu Qi's Lai is a weak character who vacillates too much between being a victim and a heroine. In addition, Qi's thick accent makes her line delivery a little flat, particularly with the movie's few attempts at humor.
But the point of The Transporter is the action, and there's plenty of it. I must admit, however, by the end, I had pretty much lost interest in the whole business. There was just too much action and not enough story. C.A. Wolski
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