Starring: Jason Statham, Qi Shu, Matt Schulze, François Berléand Running Time: 1:32 Country: France Year: 2002 Web: Official Site
The Transporter takes us to an all too familiar dead end, in a used car palmed off by some unscrupulous dealer. Neither the effective direction of Corey Yuen, nor the cynicism of Jason Statham can save a film stuck in a disgraceful script potpourri where Luc Besson shamelessly practices the art of recycling.
Jason Statham is Frank Martin, a former Special Forces (!) redeployed driver, who transports suspect packages for dubious-looking customers. The man who bases his professional success on the application of three strict rules breaks them at the beginning, opening a package he's transporting in which he discovers a young, beautiful Chinese woman (!!). This unleashes an inescapable mechanism where he will have to use his combat talents to rout a criminal organization.
Once corny, action cinema has been regenerated by the unexpected arrival of directors like John Woo, Tsui Hark and the Wachowski brothers who were able to bring style, emotion and sometimes even a hint of cerebral activity. Besson, who contributed to the renewal of the genre with the likes of La Femmme Nikita and The Professional, is therefore neither excused for his latest poor productions (Taxi, Wasabi, Kiss of the Dragon) nor for this script that pulls all the strings from B action movies.
More shocking, the premise of The Transporter purely copycats the well-known BMW Films. This series of shorts produced by the carmaker features an elegant Englishman (Clive Owen) who transports passengers who are generally in danger in his black BMW. The direction of each segment was placed in the hands of renowned filmmakers, from Wong Kar-Wai and Ang Lee to Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Guy Ritchie and John Frankenheimer (John Woo will join them this year). Besson, apparently very inspired, adapts the concept of the transporter in his black BMW, only exchanging one British dandy for another since it's Statham who takes over Owen's role. The idea of the transporter is then quickly abandoned, as the film switching to the usual chases, explosions and martial arts that generally abound in "straight-to-video" Van Damme and Seagal territory. The use of the French Riviera as a backdrop, from Nice to Marseilles, is reminiscent of Tsui Hark's more nervous Double Team. The climax, borrowed from The Road Warrior, emphasizes the absence of inspiration of the ensemble.
Corey Yuen's direction (who's better known for his collaborations with the tedious Jet Li) is unequal, often sluggish, and sometimes inventive (in particular the confrontation at a bus depot in Marseilles). Moreover, a score that breaks the rhythm by wanting to sound like Eric Serra often neutralizes his dexterity. Only Jason Statham plays his game well, proving he has the stature of an action star all while keeping his sense of cynicism and self-derision, which makes all the difference given the other oafs of the genre, like Vin Diesel. Qi Shu (Millenium Mambo) manages to bring her sparkling charm despite few opportunities.
The Transporter especially fails the more it tries to be a parody. While Statham's character is sometimes amusing, this sterilized comic book of a film excessively embraces what it tries to make fun of. Contrary to Double Team, where the cast of two grotesque personalities (Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dennis Rodman) reflected the second degree of the offered spectacle, The Transporter takes itself seriously behind its "comedy" mask and is only a pretext for a succession of rehashed action sequences.
The Transporter review
