Transporter 3

Read through all the reviews of this movie. Big fan of the first two myself and just got back from watching this. Pretty surprised that nobody has articulated the real reasons why this movie doesn't work.

Firstly, if you didn't enjoy the first or second movie all of this probably won't be very relevant. I would have thought that most people watching the third would have likely seen and enjoyed the other films in the series.

So, why is this the weakest film in the series? Anybody's review who criticises it based on a unrealistic plot or implausible action is missing the point. This might be obvious but there are numerous reviews citing these as the reasons for the film being average/bad. It's also an important part of the formula that worked well in the first and second films.

The reason this third effort doesn't work as well and is not as enjoyable is due to a variety of factors - TONE and PACING probably being the key reasons and also areas where it departs from the previous instalments.

By tone i mean a few things. Is there ridiculous over the top action in this film? Yes, most definitely, but the problem is in how it is being presented. The other movies made you laugh in their almost comic book presentation and stunts. This film is genuinely trying to sell itself as a serious action movie. They completely took the humour out of all the potentially very humorous moments through the more 'arty' editing, over the top score dramatic score (soundtrack definitely plays a big part of the different tone in the 3rd movie) and generally lousy script.

This leads on to the pacing, which is far too slow at times. Way too much dialogue between Statham and the girl. Yes we know the character fairly well but the movies were always about the action and less the dialogue. Jason Statham is capable but the script can't really be saved here.

So, a dramatically more realistic Transporter movie but sucked dry of all the humorous and fun tone that made the previous instalments so much fun. As I said there are plenty of silly and deliberately humorous moments but the way it was constructed and presented meant I wasn't laughing anywhere near as much as I was in the other films. This in conclusion is the main failure of Transporter 3 - 5/10 just for being a new movie in an otherwise cool franchise.

This is a sequel with no energy and a plot that focuses on all the wrong things. The girl that Frank is stuck with for most of the movie is obnoxious and a frustratingly horrible actress.

This could have been a good movie. I mean, it's got Frank having to drive a girl around, with an explosive anklet that'll blast him to smithereens if he's separated from his car. And she's the daughter of a politician who's being blackmailed into signing some document to allow chemical ships to get into the country without a hassle. Oh, and it's got Robert Knepper, an underrated actor, playing the villain.

Where did it go wrong? Maybe it was the fact this installment didn't match or surpass the fun ridiculousness of the first two (with the exception of Frank driving his car onto a train--and then THROUGH the train--to get to the bad guy). Or maybe it was the fact that the fight scenes were sped up (they literally fast-forwarded through some of the fights!) and blurry, with too many close-ups for you to tell just what the hell is going on. Oh, and that girl. That girl was terrible.

Some people may enjoy this, but for me, it was a huge disappointment.

Based on the characters created by Robert Mark Kamen and Luc Besson , this third entry deals with the former mercenary Frank Martin (Jason Statham), he is expert on deliveries of high risk , but he is now on holiday along with his friend Inspector Tarconi (Francois Berleand) . Two-fisted Frank is back and puts the driving gloves on when he becomes involved in the kidnapping of Valentina (Natalya Rudakova), daughter of a Ukranian government official (Jeroen Krabbe) to carry her from Marseilles to Odessa on the Black Sea . As a criminal organization forces him to undertake another deadly mission and adding an intrigue about nuclear waste . En route, he has to take on with a dangerous thug (Rob Kneeper) and ominous nasties who want to intercept Valentina's safe delivery and not let his personal feelings get in the trail of his risked aim .

This exciting picture gets noisy action , suspense , tension and lots of violence when the thrilling fights and murders take place , being pretty entertaining . Chases galore abound with breathtaking velocities and rousing pursuits where the cars leap and fly . It's a run-of-the-mill action film as from the beginning to the end the action-packed is interminable . In addition , incredible struggles with bound and leaps by the trainer master Corey Yeun as martial arts choreographer and main artificer of spectacular choreography from Hong Kong cinema . Overwhelming race cars and impressive pursuits are made by authentic stunts and computer generator especial effects . Jason Statham is top-notch as action hero who specializes moving goods of all kinds ,he's a tough man fighting stunningly . Rob Kneeper is excellent as an extremely clever villainous . Lively , stirring musical score fitting to the action by Alexander Azaria and shimmer , colorful cinematography by Giovanni Fiore . This frantic , adrenalina motion picture is lavishly produced by the French producer and director Luc Besson with his production company called Europacops o and well directed by Olivier Megaton (Colombiana , Red siren) . In conclusion the film provides fast and furious entertainment and action unstopped with no sense and developed with continuous movement and fast paced . It's a must see for action lovers . This is a superior installment , being preceded by ¨Transporter 2¨ also by Louis Leterrier with Alessandro Gassman , Amber Valetta and Jason Fleming ; and being the best the original ¨The transporter¨ by Corey Yeun and Louis Leterrier with Qi Shu , Matt Schulze and Ric Young .

I'm beginning to see a pattern here, and I'm thinking that The Transporter, if it has the legs for more movies, could be the franchise equivalent of being a poor man's cousin to James Bond. Created and written by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen for three installments so far, the character of Frank Martin is a roguish looking strongman with a penchant for suiting up when going about being the best of the best in personalized delivery, with no questions asked, no names, and a whole host of other rules which he will of course break during the course of the movie.

Like Bond, he drives a cool, sponsored signature car. While Bond has his Aston Martins and BMWs, Frank Martin traded his BM in the first movie, for the armoured Audi A8 W12 which he has brought over from the second film, and here, that sweet supercar got to be put through even more punishment. It also shows itself to be a cut about the rest in being waterproof too, and an occasional dunk in the river won't put out the powerful engine, with tyres that self-inflate too (ok, so just in case you don't realize, I'm pointing out mistakes).

And it follows the Bond formula in having the Chick of the Flick highlight too. Shu Qi came on board in the first film as the vixen who traded her body to convince Frank to take the job. Then we had the good girl-bad girl combination for Part 2 with Amber Valletta and Kate Nauta respectively. Here, model Natalya Rudakova, with her very obvious freckles getting in the way, continues from where Shu Qi left off, being the flower vase who can't speak English fluently no thanks to her strong accent, and that's fine since their characters hail from a non-English speaking country.

Director at the helm has been round robin too (now by Olivier Megaton), with Hong Konger Corey Yuen crafting the first movie, before taking the back seat in every film by taking charge of how Frank Martin does hand to hand combat. So we do get to see some consistency in the technique that Jason Statham adopts in performing martial arts and various stunt work on his own, and Statham definitely has what it takes to fill up the void of having the lack of Western action heroes on the big screen. I suppose with more hits under his belt (pardon the pun) he could cement this status, and I sincerely hope that he avoids the plague of being relegated in his later years to the direct to video market.

As far as the story goes, it just provides a basic premise and an excuse to see how our hero gets to sit behind the wheel again. The Frank Martin now is more laid back, and spends most of his leisure time with the French detective Tarconi (Francois Berleand) whom he has befriended now. Until of course his reputation catches up with him, and in a Crank inspired moment, has to do what he does best for the bad guys, much against his wishes. The villains almost always seem to be part of what's topical at the moment, and this time Frank Martin has to contend with some eco-terrorists who are blackmailing a minister, involving some permit for industrial waste.

But who cares about any semblance of the plot anyway? We're looking for some adrenaline pumping, high octane action aren't we all? And here's where it takes a slide for the worse actually. Unlike Bond, there isn't anything new or refreshing to keep the audience engaged and away from the deja-vu feeling. For some reason, Besson and Kamen's story seemed to be stuck in a lot of drama and talk-talk-talk, giving our hero not much time to flex his muscles. And when he gets the chance to, it's the same old one-man-surrounded-by-thugs routine where he effortlessly dispatches them all with aplomb.

Such fight scenes are becoming common in The Transporter franchise, and Corey Yeun definitely needs to rejuvenate his action sequences designed for the franchise pronto. There are only two major fisticuffs scenes, and they all follow the same routine, which spells boring. And apart from that, we get the usual complementary car chases which seem to be rather standard with the usual camera shots and angles capturing the action too.

Fans of the series and of Statham will no doubt make a bee line at the box office for this, but I suspect that should there be any more thoughts on extending the franchise beyond the three films, then while the formulaic plot format can be kept, the action better be innovative because nobody likes seeing the same thing twice. Since different directors got a chance to have a go at the franchise, perhaps a change in action choreographers might give Frank Martin the lift that he needs.

I do not fully understand why this film has been so severely slated. As far as action films go it ticked all the boxes, plenty of guns, car stunts, good fights, romance and even some corny humour, and has a happy ending .........what do people expect ..........Sir Laurence Olivier doing bloody Hamlet?

If you have had a crap day at work, and want to watch a good action movie which is not demanding then this is very good "action" film, if you require something demanding then watch a good foreign film.

I had as much fun watching this as I do watching a James Bond or Jackie Chan film. 8/10