Delivers the goods.

Rating: 8/10 (16 September 2016)

Frank (Jason Statham) earns his living as a transporter, a driver who operates on the wrong side of the law, making deliveries of any kind, no questions asked; but when Frank breaks one of his own rules by opening a package en route, his ruthless employers decide to silence him using any means necessary.
Jason Statham has some pretty lousy titles in his filmography (the preposterous and tiresome Crank movies, the disappointing The Expendables), as do director Corey Yuen (the mediocre So Close, the abysmal Blade of Kings) and producer Luc Besson (the awful Arthur and the Invisibles). The Transporter, however, sees all three on top form, their film providing an hour-and-a-half of exhilarating, knowingly dumb comic-book nonsense, star Statham playing his part perfectly, with an admirable sense of seriousness despite the patent silliness of the action (unlike his irritatingly OTT performances in the Crank films).
As the story progresses, the gunfights, fist fights and explosions get bigger and better, with logic never allowed to get in the way of spectacle. Statham looks every inch the action hero and handles his martial arts scenes convincingly, the best being a hugely enjoyable battle against numerous foes that makes use of a couple of barrels of grease and a pair of bicycle pedals. Bringing a bit of glamour to proceedings is the lovely Shu Qi, who plays the contents of the package that gets Frank into so much trouble.