The Transporter

In anticipation of Transporter 2, which hits theaters in September, I thought perhaps a revue of the first Transporter movie might be in order. Besides, does one really need a reason to watch a good action movie?

Grossly underrated actor Jason Statham plays Frank Martin, an ex military special ops agent, who has taken to transporting people and objects of dubious legality in order to support a rather simple yet expensive lifestyle on the southern coast of France. No questions asked, he diligently and expertly delivers whatever package he is hired to transport under a strict self-imposed set of three unbreakable rules: 1) Never change the deal once it has been agreed upon; 2) No names; 3) Never open the package. If it wasn’t glaringly apparent at this point that he would eventually break some or all of his rules then it became even more obvious when he reiterates the rules ten thousand times. We see his expert driving skills in action as he transports three bank robbers and their ill-gotten loot in a brilliant car chase scene through the streets of Nice, France. The music accompanying this scene was somewhat questionable but the choreography definitely wasn’t. Frank then takes a seemingly easy job transporting a single package, which he quickly discovers must be a human as the bag wriggles around in his trunk. We are not surprised in the least when he breaks his third rule and opens the bag to reveal a beautiful woman tied up inside. Eventually, he takes the woman, Lai (Qi Shu), back to his house in order to give her the opportunity to fall into his muscular arms and solicit his help.

I must admit that the plot itself was very shaky, but I suspect that the filmmakers were less concerned with plot and character development than they were in choreographing extended action scenes. Not that I’m complaining in this instance, because the action scenes were extremely well done. It’s so invigorating these days when fight scenes are not cut and edited so drastically that one can hardly tell what is happening. I’m fairly certain I saw several shots that lasted a good four seconds at least before they switched to a different angle. It is also obvious that Jason Statham has a background in martial arts, because he didn’t look completely ridiculous doing kicks and throwing punches, and he clearly did many of his own stunts as his face is almost always visible. At one point Frank uses the time-honored fighting technique of taking off his shirt in order to beat up multiple bad guys, which ostensibly gives the viewer ample time to admire his well-toned upper body. Given that this movie is probably aimed at a more male-dominated audience, however, I’m still not sure I see the wisdom for choosing this approach.

Luckily, The Transporter is able to rely completely upon its action scenes in making it a good movie, but I can’t help feeling that if it wasn’t so drastically lacking in other elements such as character development and a strong storyline, then it could have been spectacular. The character of Frank is certainly an interesting one, but beyond kicking the crap out of faceless henchmen and driving with reckless style, he isn’t given much room to actually engage the audience. The plot itself was almost annoying in its pointlessness, and it quickly became apparent that it merely existed to provide brief interludes between Frank’s hailstorms of punches. Then again, between sky diving, sensational car jumps, scuba diving, car bombs, rocket launchers destroying things, and an inexplicable oil fighting scene, I’m not sure a well-conceived plot could have been squeezed in anywhere.

Needless to say, however, this movie is quite entertaining, and despite its weak plot I highly recommend it as an action movie. At least you’ll be able to actually see what’s going on during the numerous fight scenes, and you won’t have to hassle with those pesky, thought-provoking plot developments.