The Transporter (2002) 20th Century Fox/Action RT: 92 minutes Rated PG-13 (violent sequences, language, some sensuality) Director: Louis Leterrier and Cory Yuen Screenplay: Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen Music: Stanley Clarke Cinematography: Pierre Morel Release date: October 11, 2002 (US) Cast: Jason Statham, Shu Qi, Francois Berleand, Matt Schulze, Ric Young. Box Office: $25.2M (US)/$43.9M (World)
Rating: ***
Everybody who knows me knows my affection for old school action stars (e.g. Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Steven Seagal, etc.) runs deep. It seems like we don’t get the same quality of bad ass action star anymore. Who do studios need to bother when, thanks to the magic of CGI, they can plug any actor into a bigger and supposedly better action scenario?
Hey, I like the Fast & Furious flicks just as much as anybody else, but there’s something to be said for honest-to-God bad asses like Jason Statham. The Brit actor appeared in a few movies- e.g. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, Ghosts of Mars and The One- before making his real breakthrough in The Transporter, a full-tilt-boogie, kick-ass actioner unlike the usual stuff served up by Hollywood these days. It has a distinctive European flavor (courtesy of co-director Louis Leterrier) with fight scenes out of a Hong Kong martial arts flick (courtesy of co-director Cory Yuen). It’s written by Robert Mark Kamen (The Karate Kid movies) and Luc Besson (La Femme Nikita, Leon the Professional). Sweet pedigree, no? It’s made sweeter by the fact that The Transporter is so good. It’s tight, exciting, violent and fun. It’s as solid an action flick as anything I watched and loved in my youth.
Ex-Special Forces op Frank Martin aka “The Transporter” (Statham) is a professional driver. He will transport anything, anytime, no questions asked. He has three rules from which he never deviates:
(1) Once the deal is made, it’s final. No changes.
(2) No names.
(3) Never open the package.
He illustrates his adherence to the rules in the opening scene when he refuses to drive an inch because the bank robbers that hired him as getaway driver try to bring an extra man. Frank explains that the extra weight will make it more difficult to elude the cops. He doesn’t move until they kill a wounded man and push him out of the car.
Frank is next hired to deliver a package to an American gangster known as “Wall Street” (Schulze, The Fast and the Furious) in Nice. When he stops to change a flat tire, he notices the duffel bag is moving. It turns out there’s a young Chinese girl (Taiwanese actress Qi) inside, bound and gagged. He delivers the package as promised and agrees to transport a briefcase for Wall Street. BIG MISTAKE! It turns out to be a bomb. KA-BOOM! Frank’s car is toast! Frank returns to the mansion and beats the crap out of everybody in sight. He steals a car from the gangster, the same one the girl, whose name is Lai, is hiding in. Even though it’s against his professional code, Frank gets involved with Lai which puts him up against a human trafficking ring led by Kwai (Young, Kiss of the Dragon).
Frank gets help from his sort-of-friend Inspector Tarconi (Berleand, Romance), a local cop who’s aware of Frank’s criminal doings but can’t prove a thing. At one point, he helps Frank escape from custody so he can go after the bad guys. After all, he has no problem doing what the police aren’t legally allowed to do.
The Transporter is filled with cool car chases and stunts including an early “YEAH, RIGHT!” moment when Frank drive-jumps from a bridge right onto an auto transport truck which conveniently has a single empty space. Later, in the climactic car chase, Frank parachutes onto a truck transporting the Chinese immigrants. I like that Statham does most of his own stunts (according to IMDb). He’s a hell of a fighter too. He effortlessly takes out gangs of bad guys out to kill him. He’s also resourceful as evidenced by the scene where he covers himself in motor oil so his opponents aren’t able to get a hold of him.
The Transporter is a very exciting movie. So what if the plot is paper thin? So what if lead actress Qi isn’t all that great an actress? It has lots of action and violence, the bad guys are sufficiently loathsome and it keeps moving. The French locations are a very nice touch. Even the smallest of details, like Frank buying a bottle of Orangina, a popular carbonated beverage in Europe, give The Transporter a unique feel. It’s stylish and sleek like a well-oiled vehicle. It never runs out of gas.
