The best and worst of the action movie genre.

Rating: 6/10 (9 January 2011)

The Transporter is directed by Louis Leterrier and Corey Yuen and written by Luc Besson (who co-produces with Stephen Chasman) and Robert Mark Kamen. It stars Jason Statham, Shu Qi, Matt Schulze & François Berléand. Music is by Stanley Clarke and cinematography comes courtesy of Pierre Morel. Plot sees Statham as ex-soldier Frank Martin, a much respected courier in the underworld who is dynamite behind the wheel of a car and electric with his fists and feet. Living it up nice and cushy on the French Riviera, he lives by a set of rules that should not be broken, but during this particular "transport" job, he breaks his rules out of curiosity and gets embroiled in a fight for life.
The Transporter made back double its production budget, enough of a financial swing to ensure that sequels would follow (two so far, with the first sequel easily the best of the three). With Stallone et al on the wane, and the likes of Diesel and The Rock yet to convince, The Transporter gave ex-model-turned actor-Statham the chance to flex his muscles and make a mark in the action genre. Which he did, with great physicality, deft of movement and rugged good looks. Which is just as well since all those around him are rather bad. He's helped enormously by the choreography of Yuen, who gives the fight scenes plenty of zest and originality to leave them memorable. The spirit of Hong Kong action movies reigns supreme in The Transporter, with the added bonus being that of Morel's pleasing photography. But strip away the action and there's nothing left, the plot is boorish and the dialogue just dreadful, worse still is Clarke's music score, where instead of adrenalin boosting urgency we get leaden comedy. Very poor, and indicative of the production. It seems that the makers had themselves a bunch of great action set pieces to begin with, and then built the film around them, without due care and attention.
It does what is expected of it as an action piece of popcorn, but it's pretty shallow outside of that. 6.5/10