The rise of an action star

Rating: 9/10 (12 January 2012)

Not many knew Jason Statham prior to becoming The Transporter but no one in the action genre has forgotten him since and for good reason. The Transporter is a rip roaring, red blooded, action packed flick that will leave you cheering and enjoying every minute of it. It has absolutely everything you could possibly need from an action movie. The gruff, tough hero, a European background, organized crime, martial arts, stunts, explosions, car chases...and everything else. Best of all it does actually have good story even if its completely predictable and simplistic but there is nothing wrong with that as long as it works and it does!!
Statham is as bad-ass as any legendary action star you can think of. His character of Frank has more depth than you think at first and his good guy side wins out every time. This is one of my all time favourite action characters. Qi Shu plays Lai, Frank's package to be delivered, that turns out to be more than expected. She does alright although her wild nature makes her sort of annoying and she is often hard to understand. The chemistry between her and Statham is decent but not perfect. Really also enjoy the performance by François Berléand as Inspector Tarconi, the adversary/friend to Frank. I enjoy their banter and their storyline and they could have used it more both in this one and future sequels.
Creator and writer Luc Besson is synonymous with action. The Professional, The Fifth Element, Unleashed, Taken...just to name a few of my personal favourites. Simply put he knows what people love in an action film. First timer Louis Leterrier helms the film and clearly does a great job. He went on to do some very big projects like the sequel to this and Clash of The Titans. I think he's probably a big action film fan himself and so he handles the story, content and character perfectly. If you love action even a little you should be watching this right now. It is the perfect flick to enjoy yourself beginning to end and look forward to the sequels. Jason Statham will win you over every time. 9/10