- The Transporter is a film that I would have liked when I was 16. More specifically, it seems like a film designed for, and quite possibly by, stereotypical 16-year-old boys. There's plenty of stunt driving, punching, kicking, shooting, and explosions. The credits feature over half a dozen characters whose names contain some variation of the word "thug," all of whom I assure you meet a violent end. There's a taciturn hero, Frank Martin (Jason Statham), and the victimized woman Lai (Qui Shu) who quickly falls in love with him. Most of the action takes place over a comically inappropriate soundtrack that nobody over age 20 would ever enjoy listening to.
- The most interesting aspect of the film is certainly Frank's job as a transporter. He charges a hefty fee to drive suspicious people or packages from point A to point B, no questions asked. Also, helpful hint: do not attempt to re-negotiate your deal with Frank once the transporting has started. The rest of the plot is similar to that of many video games: beat up the badguys and advance to the next level. Standing atop the villain pyramid are an American crook nicknamed "Wall Street" (Matt Schulze) and Lai's father Kwai (Ric Young). They make money from human trafficking, in case you still weren't sure who to root for.
- But back to the action, I'll freely admit that Jason Statham is a convincing tough guy. He looks like somebody who can kick some ass, and that is exactly what happens in this film. In varying degrees of shirtlessness, he runs rampant through hordes of henchman, always finding new and interesting ways to break their bones. In his downtime, he tolerates the company of either Lai or the world-weary detective (François Berléand) contractually obligated to appear in every French crime film ever made. To its credit, the movie doesn't have any higher aspirations than these and so, in that sense, must be considered a success. One may rightly wonder why two directors, Louis Letterier and Corey Yuen, were required. I'm happy to speculate that one was in charge of punching and the other kicking.
