The Transporter delivers!

Rating: 7/10 (19 October 2002)

Frank Martin, provides the platinum standard among couriers: he will deliver any package, any where to any one, on time, no questions asked. Understandably, his rates are a bit steeper than FedEx and his rules a bit more stringent. When he agrees to deliver a duffel bag Frank breaks Martin rule # 3  never look in the package  only to discover that the contents are alive, kicking and beautiful. What's a guy to do ? Throw her back in the bag and complete the contract of course! Unfortunately Frank's employer is unhappy the indiscretion and his idea of a customer service complaint is to eliminate the server.
The opening frantic car chase through the streets and along the boardwalks of Nice, sets the tone for the for the rest of the movie  infused with equal parts action and humor you quickly realize that this is not a film that takes itself seriously. Co-written and produced by Luc Besson (The Professional and The Fifth Element) it follows in the vein of his earlier films: reluctant protagonist who bends the rules to do his job, shows a little humanity inadvertently becoming a champion for the oppressed, and having to dodge bullets, bombs and badmen along the way. . The lead captures this spirit.
Jason Statham's Frank is a no nonsense ex-special services minutia obsessed professional who refuses to be rattled even as the world is coming down around him (literally in one scene). Statham, best known as the fast talking Turkish in Snatch, possesses both the bulk and matter of fact glib finesse necessary to be an action hero. The intricately choreographed and numerous marital arts sequences - the best I've seen in a non Asian film  bear the trademarks of its Hong Kong predecessors and confirm that he also possesses the requisite physicality to carry a film in this genre. Statham may well turn out to be the next Bruce Willis (or at least his British counterpart.)
There are several glaring problems with this film: the people smuggling subplot seems to have been an afterthought, the dialogue is often unintentionally laughable, and then there are those pesky laws of physics  But none of that matters - I wanted high octane fun and pyrotechnics, and I wasn't disappointed.. Pass the popcorn please.