Can't Miss but I'm gonna pick nits...

Rating: 9/10 (25 February 2006)

First let me say that this is a movie I thoroughly enjoyed the first time I saw it and every time I've seen it since. I would have paid to go see this movie which in the age of cable and DVD is a high compliment indeed. However, as I am the idiot who sits in movies and says things like "That's a Model 1911 Colt and this movie is set in 1908!!!", I do have a few nits to pick with the movie and they are all things that could have easily been rectified.
Frank Martin drives, according to the Inspector, a 1999 BMW 735i. Now while I am by no means an expert on Euro-spec cars, one would think that a 3.5 liter six-cylinder would be a bit weak for the kind of work Frank does. I would pick an M5, 4.4 liter V8 or take a less conspicuous 540i six-speed and buy modifications from Alpina to bring it up to M5 specs. Maybe he needs the extra trunk space of a 7-series...in that case, the 745i V8 or the 750i V12 would be a much better choice. While I'm not sure of Euro-specs, in the US the 745i and 750i were only available with automatic transmissions and that would take some of the drama as well as the skill away from Frank's driving. At least here in the States someone shoehorned a 5-liter V12 into a 5-series BMW and mated it with a six-speed manual. Why couldn't Frank drive a 7-series with a V12 and six-speed? All the producers would have to do is stick on a 750 badge!!! (That 5-series with the six-speed and V12 is for sale and if I had 25 large burning a hole in my pocket it would be in my driveway...) Now, about Martin's military background...while he was sleeping the girl found pictures which would indicate that he had been an American helicopter pilot, Gulf War era. Now, although Jason Statham does a pretty good job of downplaying his British accent, he would have been much more believable as an ex-SAS operative, especially with the level of fighting skills he displayed. I'm sure in light of the crop duster plane sequence it was important to show that Frank had flying skills, however I wish our pilots were as well trained in hand-to-hand combat as Jason is!!! (9-11 would be a footnote of a couple of failed hijackings in that case...) Admittedly, in my service I was a Pathfinder attached to an aviation unit and several of our warrant officer pilots had been Airborne Ranger qualified enlisted men before going to flight school. I too am a Ranger School graduate and my hand-to-hand combat training nowhere approaches Frank Martin's level. Only the SAS, Dick Marcinko's Seal Team Six and maybe Delta Force could possibly fight at that level.
Statham looks convincing though, and not since Steve McQueen have I seen someone who actually looks like he maybe can drive as well as he does in this movie (possible exception of Robert DeNiro in Ronin, whose research for any role is legendary and other-worldly). I did like this movie and will watch it again.