While the ensemble player who gained notice in Guy Ritchie's Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch has the bod, he's unlikely to become a household name on the basis of his first starring vehicle.
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
One long, numbing action sequence made up mostly of routine stuff Yuen has given us before.
With stars and action like this, a coherent story would be nice, but it's not necessary.
It remains to be seen whether Statham can move beyond the crime-land action genre, but then again, who says he has to?
Will undoubtedly play well in European markets, where Mr. Besson is a brand name, and in Asia, where Ms. Shu is an institution, but American audiences will probably find it familiar and insufficiently cathartic.
This month's Luc Besson movie plays a lot like last month's -- only better.
Alas, veteran action director Corey Yuen is going through the motions.
The Transporter's got style and a captivating lead performance by Statham...
Aside from a few dynamic fights and Statham's square-jawed charisma, the film is a collection of action sequences in search of a plot.
Provides enough cool, exciting action sequences to make up for its recyclable plot, dinky dialogue and lame bad guys.
`Some fancy driving,' a police inspector observes, offering as good of praise as any for `The Transporter.'
The Transporter bombards the viewer with so many explosions and side snap kicks that it ends up being surprisingly dull.
Such a silly slugfest that no amount of surly attitude can hide its skeletal plot or stand in for satisfying characterizations.
A synthesis of cliches and absurdities that seems positively decadent in its cinematic flash and emptiness.
'The Transporter' is an action-camp champ...(the) kaplewy-and-kung-fu fun-ride is everything last summer's 'XXX' should have been.
If there is one thing that this film excels at, it’s testosterone delivery.
And with Jet Li or Jean Reno nowhere to be found, what's the point of bringing Yuen and Besson together at last?
Evoking the heyday of Hong Kong action films, The Transporter offers outstanding physical stunts, beautiful locations, cryptic characters, and a cringe-worthy plot.
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