The Transporter
**1/2 stars
The Hong Kong action film has been imitated so much in the past 10 years that the novelty of its beautiful choreography and stylish storytelling has now become clich?. Action filmmakers have found themselves in a creative rut after utilizing (and then exhausting) the techniques of John Woo, Ringo Lam and Woo-Ping Yuen; and must now find new ways to thrill audiences.
“The Transporter” is a prime example. Despite a truly exciting beginning (which is better than the whole film), the movie goes into Hong Kong autopilot. The storytelling does make for an entertaining experience, but one that we have had many times before in the theater. There are only so many carefully structured fight sequences that are plausible; not that plausibility is a big concern for these types of movies.
In the film, Jason Statham plays Frank Martin, a skillful, but amoral, driver who will transport anything for anybody for the right price. A strict loner without a concern for anyone but himself, Martin is compelled to aid his latest delivery, a kidnap victim played by Qi Shu, who is trying to stop a Chinese slave-smuggling operation.
In the process, Statham’s beautiful house, and even more beautiful BMW, get destroyed by the cold-blooded slave traders. However, Statham effortlessly conducts a one-man war against the thugs in attempting to free the captive Chinese slaves.
The biggest disappointment of the film is the involvement of French filmmaker Luc Besson. Responsible for one of the greatest action films ever, “The Professional,” Besson should be producing better screenplays than this thin-plotted retread. But disappointment is all that Besson has given audiences since.
Regardless of the film’s thin plot and trite storytelling, Statham’s charismatic style thankfully overtakes the show. After impressive roles in Guy Ritchie’s “Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels” and “Snatch”, “The Transporter” allows Statham to stand on his own. The fact that he still turns in such an appealing and strong performance from such a contrived movie proves, one hopes, that better things may come from this English actor.
The film does have some great moments beyond Statham’s acting. The beginning car chase sequence through the streets of Marseilles is the best since John Frankenheimer’s “Ronin.” It is the best BMW commercial ever. In fact, it brings to mind BMW’s “The Driver” series of commercials, which has a similar premise as this picture. There is just something about car chases through European cities. Perhaps being so continental, these action scenes seem more sophisticated.
Yes, car chases are more clich?d than Hong Kong action, but as ours is a car-dominated society, we will always be fascinated by the potential power a high-performance vehicle has. Deep down, most of us wish to drive like The Transporter; and coming out of the theater one is tempted to do just that. (It wasn’t like I was caught or anything.)