One of my all-time favorites of the Action genre

Rating: 8/10 (21 February 2006)

Where to start......
The Transporter starts out with a spectacular car chase through Monaco. Statham (this is the first film I saw him in; he's now one of my favorite actors) dazzles the screen as the amazing driver of the BMW right from this opening.
I could talk about character development (and there is some on Frank's, Statham's character's, part), acting (and it was decent), et cetera, but in all honesty, that's not what this film is about. This is about having fun, watching some amazing martial arts, and viewing some great driving. Not to say that it totally relies on action (I absolutely loathe xXx for everything it represents), just that the action scenes are simply the highlights of the film.
And that's why this is one of my favorite action films. The martial arts were some of the best I've seen. Though they may not have been all entirely believable (well, this is an action film), they were always at least possible (versus something like The Matrix). And they were great eye-candy. The martial arts also utilized many things that haven't been in past martial arts flicks (ex: fighting in oil, thus much slipping around, etc). Basically, action = good.
The action direction that Corey Yuen contributes gives John Woo a run for his money. The cinematography seemed to always provide a clean, crisp French Riviera sunshine that gave a vibe of energy and excitement (and aesthetic appeal). Fight scenes were never hard to follow, and always fun to watch. Car chases were beautiful. I don't know if I've said it yet, but this is a great action film! It's never too over-the-top, and it's not totally non-stop action, so the action that is provided is boosted that much more. A must-see for action-buffs, Statham fans, or Shi Qu fans, this is one of the most recent cult films I know of.