Throwback

Rating: Null/10 (20 May 2014)

For what this is it delivers.
It is from the time before Bond and Batman (and Bourne) were 'serious' and harks back to the tongue-in-cheek action cartoons of the 90s and prior, American and Hong Kong, so watching it now it seems refreshing and a bit different, something made up to amuse.
The transporter lives in a mechanical narrative of his choosing, getaway driver for all sorts of shady characters. His second rule is no names, no human connection with people. His first, no change of plans - the story stays the same.
We see a first demo drive; where we would expect lots of crashing around a la the Vin Diesel franchise his driving is slick, miraculously so. He even lands his BMW from a bridge to a space just right for it on a towing truck in motion.
In one of his rounds he breaks his rule and this introduces the unpredictable human element in the gears, a woman, that alters the story.
The first time he escapes death he ends up with her back at his place. The second, he dives with her deep in the waters and of course in the next beat she gets out of her clothes and throws herself on him - the underwater scene COULD have been more sensual (not to mention a more veiled sex), scuba diving is after all Besson's Proustian madeleine of childhood memory.
Besson's sensibilities are all right for this and he matches them with a Chinese director at the helm. This guy had done according to IMDb extensive kung fu work in his country that he brings here - the fights are in the Hong Kong style that Chan made famous, so more akin to choreographed dance than real violence. Not great in this style, but no one does it any more so again it sticks.
The most amusing set piece here has Statham and a dozen goons rolling around in grease and trying to stand up, it's purely a slapstick dance number which ends with Statham gliding on the floor and out of the scene - you can see how the musical would go.
This sense of danced fun bounced off against a Statham who can contain his amused smirk just enough makes up for the unexciting car chase mechanics; Vin Diesel is the go to guy for that. The formulaic plot and cheesy villains all add to this throwback videocassette-rental sense.