Downhill Fast

Rating: 3/10 (13 September 2002)

Luc Besson has traditionally given US audiences something more than your standard Hollywood action film, often with thrilling (La Femme Nikita, The Professional) or visually dynamic (Fifth Element, The Messenger) results. So what went terribly wrong with The Transporter? Perhaps it was the director's (Corey Yuen) heavy reliance on the stylized John Woo and Jackie Chan inspired action sequences. But that can be fun sometimes. Perhaps it was the improbable scenarios and James Bond like clichés. But that, too, can be fun, even when the diabolical evil mastermind waits to kill the hero providing him enough time to be saved. What really went wrong with this film was that the story and main character got lost after the first car chase sequence.

Frank Martin is The Transported, played perfectly cold faced by Jason Statham. He is wonderfully introduced as a well organized, manicured, and precise driver hired for transporting "packages" for high fees, no questions asked. This is an austere man, following his own protocol and rules to keep his life ticking as perfectly as his watch. I wanted to get to know this interesting and reserved person from the moment he tersely negotiates with bank robbers on the first job we're privy to. He drives up to a bank at the strike of 10 am just in time to pick up his load - four bank robbers with masks, guns, and bank sacks. As he calmly explains that the contract was for three men, no more, and that he is not proceeding until the contract terms are met, the robbers threaten with guns and the cops start closing in around them. Through some good negotiation skills and some fancy and fantastic car handling skills, The Transporter soon has the men out of the situation and returns to his seaside home to clean up the minor mess to his car. BMW had several notable directors (Ang Lee, Guy Ritchie) shoot short films for the web, some with dramatically good results. The car chase sequence follows this theme with great results.
But then something terrible happens with this wonderful start to the film. His next assignment, to carry a bag to a hillside mansion, turns bad when he opens the wriggling package to find a fresh and soft faced Asian girl with model good looks. Breaking his rule never to open the package results in some bad consequences. After he kicks two motor cops into submission, we loose the interesting guy and are left with only an action hero flexing his muscle and beating up on multiple guys at a time. The story about the thinking, motivated professional trying to walk the line as a precise driver in an imprecise and dangerous world turns into a mess of fight sequences and large explosions. Gone is the Martin with the clean suits and sharp dialog. We're left with a buff martial arts guy and no plot. This could be expected from the Hollywood studios and some of the lesser interesting Hong Kong action films but I expected more, both from the early hints of a real character at the start of the film and from Besson's earlier works. Sadly we're left with action fluff about as satisfying as cotton candy. Have fun with the car chase and oil spill antics, just don't be surprised if the sugary mass turns to air after the lights come up.