“Watch any car crash in any American movie. It is a high-spirited moment like old-fashioned stunt-flying, walking on wings. The people who stage these crashes are able to capture a lightheartedness, a carefree enjoyment that car crashes in foreign movies can never approach.”
“Look past the violence.”
“Exactly. Look past the violence, Jack. There is a wonderful brimming spirit of innocence and fun.”
—Don DeLillo, White Noise
Frank is a simple man. As a courier for nefarious European underworld elements, he makes a good living by adhering to three simple rules: 1) The deal is the deal. 2) Never open the package. 3) No names. In the initial car chase we see not only how good he is at his job, but how seriously he takes it.
Frank’s (Jason Statham) problems begin when he has to change the tire of his immaculately kept BMW. When he sees the package in his trunk is moving, Frank is forced to break rule #2 and open it up. It turns out his cargo is the beautiful Lai, played by Asian superstar Qi Shu. From here Frank breaks each of his rules in turn, while kicking and shooting people for good measure.
If Frank would just stick to what he does best (driving cars really fast, kicking and shooting people), this movie would be awesome, but instead he falls in love with his package and develops a conscience to boot. Up to this point, Frank shows a lot of potential as an action hero franchise. He’s one of those guys who just exist to get the job done and occasionally say something monosyllabic like: “Can’t think. Must sleep. Think better after sleep.”
Luc Besson (the director of La Femme Nikita and The Professional) is the executive producer and co-writer, and his fingerprints are all over this film. Corey Yuen (the director of many of Jet Li’s films) is at the helm, and as a result the martial arts and action sequences are breathtaking, while Statham does a good job as the English guy playing Jet Li’s role.
The problem with The Transporter is that while it looks like an American action film, it’s constructed to pre-sell in Europe. It features an English star and a French crew and location, alongside its Hong Kong director and current Asian sensation in Qi Shu. As a result, the dialogue is necessarily stilted in order for all the regional elements to be represented.
Despite the decent action sequences it does have, The Transporter is nothing you haven’t seen done better a hundred times before.
Still, it’s evidence that the Europeans are finally beginning to close the gap in the car-crash genre—first they build better cars, and next they’ll be better at blowing them up.
