The acting might be shoddy, the plot nonsense and the dialogue clunky, but the fighting is exquisitely done. Inventive, athletic, fun, stylish and tight, it's everything the rest of the film isn't.
The Transporter (2002)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:121
Fresh:64
Rotten:57
Average Rating:5.5/10
Consensus: The Transporter delivers the action at the expense of coherent storytelling.
Runtime: 1 hr 32 mins
Genre: Action/Adventure
Synopsis:
Ex-Special Forces operator Frank Martin lives what seems to be a quiet life along the French Mediterranean, hiring himself out as a mercenary "transporter" who moves goods - human or otherwise -...
Ex-Special Forces operator Frank Martin lives what seems to be a quiet life along the French Mediterranean, hiring himself out as a mercenary "transporter" who moves goods - human or otherwise - from one place to another. No questions asked.
Carrying out mysterious and sometimes dangerous tasks in his tricked-out BMW, Frank adheres to a strict set of rules, which he never breaks. Rule One: Never change the deal. Rule Two: No names - Frank doesn't want to know whom he's working for, or what he's transporting. Rule Three: Never look in the package.
Frank's newest transport seems no different from the countless ones he's done in the past. He has been hired by an American known only as "Wall Street" (see Rule Two) to make a delivery, but when Frank stops along route, he notices his "package" is moving. Violating Rule Three, Frank looks inside the bag, finding its contents to be a beautiful, gagged woman.
Frank's steadfast adherence to his other two rules - which make up his basic code of survival - also quickly falls, hurtling him and his new companion on a road leading to shocking secrets, deadly complications, and the last thing Frank ever expected to come to believe: that rules are made to be broken. -- © 20th Century Fox
Starring: Jason Statham, Shu Qi, Matt Schulze, Francois Berleand
Starring: Jason Statham, Shu Qi, Matt Schulze, Francois Berleand, Richard Young, Doug Rand, Didier Saint Melin, Tonio Descanvelle
Director: Corey Yuen
Director: Corey Yuen
Screenwriter: Luc Besson, Robert Mark Kamen
Producer: Steven Chasman, Luc Besson
Composer: Stanley Clarke
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Reviews for The Transporter
Statham employs an accent that I think is supposed to be an attempt at hardass American but sometimes just lapses into unhidden British.
'The Transporter isn’t a movie, it’s a catastrophe. Statham looks like a thug and he acts like a tree.'
Chases and choreographed fights set to rock music take up most of the running time and the movie is like To Catch a Thief remade by a hack follower of John Woo.
Statham impresses in a movie that is simultaneously the best (the fight scenes) and worst (everything else) action movie of the year. Destined for drunken Friday night rental heaven.
If Hollywood's looking for a new action hero, then Jason Statham's their man.
It's still enjoyably watchable and surprisingly unpredictable, with just enough silliness to keep us laughing at it, not with it.
The Transporter screams its devotion to style over substance with slick action sequences, fast cars and breathtaking stunts. Every scene is designed to feature the next big fight, chase or explosion.
Serves up tiresome characters, a reheated narrative and emasculated action sequences.
Outside of its action concepts, the script by Besson and Robert Mark Kamen ... varies between mediocre and awful.
It's also clear from the start that The Transporter is running purely on adrenaline, and once the initial high wears off, the film's shortcomings start to shine through.
We sighed, we swooned, we fell in love. It's really too bad that the movie itself sucks out loud.
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