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The Transporter 2002 |
Review by Jonathan Cornwell |
Directed by Corey Yuan
PG-13, 92 min. (violent sequences, some sensuality) |
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Starring: Jason Stratham, Qi Shu, Matt Schulze, Francois Berleand, Ric Young
Producers: Luc Besson, Steve Chasman, David Lai
Screenplay: Luc Besson, Robert Mark Kamen
Cinematography: Pierre Morel
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Released: 10.11.02 (Wide) |
Rating:
 (out of ) |
No one will mistake The Transporter, the latest film from producer/writer Luc Besson (The Professional, The Fifth Element),
as a character study of a criminal gone straight. It's all action and then some. It seems a little mysterious, considering
the film's beginning, that this picture would be titled "The Transporter," because, as many others will note, the story has very
little to do with its namesake. Instead, we're treated to ever-increasing action sequences that sticks the film in overdrive
permanently. During the first ten minutes the film aligns itself with The Professional, and hope begun to swell in the audience
that we could be in store for neat little film. Unfortunately, after being bludgeoned into submission with explosions, fights, and
enough ammo to take down a small army, all one could do was shake their head in dismay while exiting the theater.
Jason Stratham plays Frank Martin, a transporter with three simple rules - 1) Never change the deal, 2) No names, and
3) Never open the package. Of course, in time he breaks all three rules, resulting in the ensuing chaos that unfolds. Normally
a by-the-numbers courier, he stumbles across a package that contains a pretty girl, Lai (Qi Shu). Of course, he's already broken
rule #3 to know this, so why not throw them all out? Lai turns out to be the daughter of a powerful Chinese businessmen
involved in the shipment of people sold into slavery, and Frank's involvement means the bad guys are after him. Thankfully a mild-mannerd
policeman (Francois Berleand) investigates Frank's associations with criminals, and eventually lends a hand to rescue him
from his predicament.
The film will be remembered for its intense opening act, which shows Frank at his best as the no-nonsense transporter. His
rules are gospel, and when his package (in this case four bank robbers) is more than originally agreed to, he calmly sits
in the getaway car and asks one of them to get out, while police sirens are closing in all around them. The chase scene
through the streets of a French city is sensational, ala Ronin or even the recent The Bourne Identity. Director Corey Yuan's
imagination comes into play here as he brings his considerable Hong Kong martial arts experience to his direction. However,
once the chase is over, so is the movie for the most part.
The Transporter has plenty of action for even the most ardent of action-without-interruption movie fan, but in order for
the film to work properly it has to develop its characters more than just exchanging pleasantries while avoiding the latest
bullet whizzing by their ears. It's hard to identify with characters when they're nothing more than objects willing to perpetuate
a non-stop hurricane of blistering action. This is when one really craves for a quiet scene - at least one anyway.
© 2002 Jonathan Cornwell
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 | Masterpiece - Film perfection |
 | Excellent - A Must See |
| Good - Highly Recommended |
| Fair - Worth seeing |
| Average - Viewable, but not recommended |
| Below average - View at own risk |
| Poor - Avoid at all costs |
| Very poor - An embarassment to the film industry |
| Zero | Awful - One of the worst films ever made |
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