I hadn’t seen an action movie for a while, so last night, as I wanted to watch a short, entertaining and easy movie –one which doesn’t require much thinking-, I chose The Transporter; produced by the talented Luc Besson (Léon: The Professional, The Fifth Element). I have to recognize that the movie served its purpose and manages to entertain the viewer, but it fails to be as interesting and it won’t be as memorable as Besson’s previous efforts.

Frank Martin (Jason Statham) is an ex military who works now as a transporter in southern France. He can deliver absolutely any package to any destination without asking any questions. As any former member of the army, Frank is very disciplined and has a set of rules –which he never breaks- for his job, for example, to never change a deal or mention any names. Things get complicated after his most recent employer, Wall Street (Matt Schulze) finds out he’s broken the third rule and has opened a package containing a Chinese woman, Lai (Qi Shu). Street’s gang blows up Frank’s beloved car but he fortunately survives and decides to go back for revenge, rescues Lai and is now being pursued by a bunch of hitmen who won’t hesitate in killing him. Lai tells the transporter the gang is smuggling Chinese people into France and talks him into stopping them.    

The movie’s first few lines are promising because they make us feel as if we are going to watch an uncommon action flick. Although I haven’t seen too many action flicks, I reckon the story is original but unfortunately enough, the plot formula isn’t. The movie’s screenplay is one of its main problems; we know absolutely nothing about the main characters -especially about Wall Street, supposedly the main bad guy, who remains incognito – and the story also remains a mystery, but these don’t represent as much of a problem as the poorly developed protagonists. The film’s also a bit cheesy; the sudden romance between Frank and Lai is laughable and makes us believe there’s no such thing as love at first sight. Another problem is the bad timing of some quotes; if I openly discussed this issue I would spoil the film’s ending but you’ll understand my point if you decide to watch it.

Jason Statham’s performance is OK, making his character likable and believable and proving he’s one of the best action actors nowadays. On the other hand, we have Qi Shu (or Shu Qi as she’s credited in the movie) whose role of a Chinese victim and savior of her people is played annoyingly and doesn’t help her character at all. The secondary cast adds some good performances though; Matt Schulze’s portrayal of the bad guy is good enough to make him detestable even though the script doesn’t help him much. Rick Young is OK as the “mafia boss” and Francois Berleand’s portrayal of the good cop always willing to help is probably the less forced of the film.

The movie’s pacing is all right for an action film which, as I mentioned before, never drags and doesn’t feel too fast for it. Director Corey Yuan’s work is not very good but it’s acceptable. (I don’t really know if Louis Leterrier actually directed this film alongside Yuan, but just in case, he’s credited as a co-director in the IMDb). He manages to create some innovative action scenes which capture the viewer’s attention for a little while, but the Paul Greengrass-like quick cuts during the sequences cause them to be confusing and hard to follow. Special effects aren’t too noticeable or distracting, but that’s maybe because the viewer is focused on the sometimes ridiculous techniques the director uses; he combines slow motion with fast forwarded scenes which work sometimes but are used way too often. Visually there’s nothing too fancy in the film, but some of the music is cheap and sounds Grand Theft Auto-like.

The Transporter is an average action flick which manages to entertain the viewer but isn’t really compelling because it uses a well-known plot formula making the outcome absolutely predictable. This motion picture might be loveable for some action movie lovers who like to sit down for an hour and a half, eat popcorn and forget about his problems; but for people looking for more than the usual action hero, explosions or car chases will undoubtedly be just futile.

© Mauricio Kahn

Lima, Feb 2008

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