Transporter

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 Transporter (2002) was a fun action film that was directed by Jet Li's fight director Corey Yuen and it starred Jason Statham. Jason stars as Frank Martin. He's a hired gin who does driving jobs for a hefty fee. For his services he'll use his superb driving skills to get his paying customers out of a jam. He asks no questions and needs precise instruction in order to perfectly time his getaways. His number one rule is to never ask questions. One day he takes a gig from a sleazy and shady man named Betancourt (Matt Schulze). Instead of delivering the goods, he breaks his number one rule and peeks inside the package...

A fun action film filled with bone breaking action and wild stunts. People have unfairly slammed this movie for being unrealistic. What do you expect? The action scenes are performed to flamboyant ans stylized you have to suspend belief. It's one of those movies that doesn't throw in realism all of a sudden to make the movie more interesting. Jason Statham is pretty cool as well as the Transporter and he seems legit, not another tough guy phony. HE looks like he can knock the tar out of you in a real fight. Co-stars Shu Qi (she learned to speak English phonetically for her role in this movie).

Highly recommended.

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.

This thrilling film is packed with unstopped action , stirring car races and sensational fights .The former mercenary called Frank Martin(Jason Statham in his starring debut) turned in security agent is now serving as chauffeur for delinquents and mobsters . He is contracted by a gangster to make a delivery, but when Martin stops along route, he aware his "package" is moving. Frank's curiosity leads him to break the rules, and he discovers the package is delivering to Wall Street contains an amazing surprise . Violating his own personal rules, he breaks his own code and looks inside the trunk , finding its contents to be a wonderful Oriental woman named Lai ( the Chinese Qi Shu ) . Learning that Martin broke the rules and aware about Lai, Wall Street (Matt Schulze) orders his mercenaries to kill him . Later on , he becomes involved in human smuggling by ominous nasties( Matt Schulze, Ric Young). Meanwhile , an astute Police Instector (Francois Berleand ) is investigating the deeds .

This exciting picture gets frenetic action, suspense, thrills, tension , terrific chase scenes, and lots of violence when the struggles and killings happen , being pretty entertaining. Chases galore abound with breathtaking velocities and overwhelming pursuits where the cars bound, leap and fly. It's a run-of-the-mill action film but from the start to the finish the action-packed is interminable. Furthermore , incredible fights with bound and leaps by the trainer master Corey Yeun (artificer of spectacular choreography from Hong Kong cinema) and spectacular chases including a moving ending involving a plane and trucks . Impressive car races and pursuits were made by authentic stunts and computer generator effects. Jason Statham is top-notch as action hero, he lives what seems to be a luxurious life along the French Mediterranean, hiring himself out as a mercenary "transporter" who moves goods from one location to another , he's a tough man fighting stunningly . Matt Schulze is magnificent as an extremely clever villainous .Lively musical score fitting to the action by Stanley Clarke . Spectacularly photographed by prestigious cameraman Pierre Morel (Taken , District 13), subsequently successful director , shot on location in the followings places : Avenue De Saissy, Cannes, Alpes-Maritimes, Cassis, Bouches-Du-Rhône, Eze Village, Alpes-Maritimes, Marseille, Nice, Paris, and Rue Pierre et Marie Curie, Aix-en-Provence;Saint-Tropez, Var, France , Villefranche-Sur-Mer, Alpes-Maritimes, France. The motion picture is lavishly produced by the notorious producer , writer and director Luc Besson and well directed by Louis Leterrier (Fury of Titans, Incredible Hulk , Danny the Dog) and Corey Yeun , two notable experts on action cinema. In conclusion the film provides fast and furious entertainment and action unstopped with no sense and developed with fast paced and continuous movement. It's a must see for action lovers .Followed by two sequels Transporter 2 (2005) by Louis Leterrier and Transporter 3 (2008) by Olivier Megaton , repeating Jason Statham and Francois Berleand .

The plot, fight scenes and dialogue were all pretty cliche and cheesy, no originality and at some points annoying. Music throughout the movie is also bad. Jason Statham was once again sensational - he is the only positive thing i can say for this movie. Unfortunately the rest characters were caricatures, very not convincing and untasteful, e.g. The girl's dad was the lowest point in the cast.

The movie is OK to watch after a difficult day, but don't expect much, this is not the kind of movie you will talk about with others later - and you will definitely find better movies to watch with Jason Statham.