The Transporter (2002)

Directors: Louis Leterrier & Corey Yuen

Starring: Jason Statham, Qi Shu, Matt Schulze, Francois Berleand, Ric Young, Doug Rand, Didier Saint Melin

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Rules are made to be broken

Plot: Ex-Special Forces operator Frank Martin lives what seems to be a quiet life along the French Mediterranean, hiring himself out as a mercenary "transporter" who moves goods--human or otherwise--from one place to another. No questions asked. Carrying out mysterious and sometimes dangerous tasks in his tricked-out BMW, Frank adheres to a strict set of rules, which he never breaks. Rule One: Never change the deal. Rule Two: No names--Frank doesn't want to know whom he's working for, or what he's transporting. Rule Three: never look in the package. Frank's newest transport seems no different from the countless ones he's done in the past. He's been hired by an American known only as "Wall Street" to make a delivery; but when Frank stops along the route, he notices his package is moving. Violating Rule Three, Frank looks inside the bag, finding its contents to be a beautiful, gagged woman. Frank's steadfast adherence to his other two rules--which make up his basic code of survival--also quickly fails, hurtling him and his new companion on a road leading to shocking secrets, deadly complications, and the last thing that Frank ever expected to come to believe: that rules are made to be broken.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again? Maybe to no.

I was disappointed when I saw this several years ago and I'm disappointed with it now. On one hand you've got a badass character doing badass things and on the other he does stupid shit that makes no damn sense. But let's forget all of that. This is a live action comic book and that's that. Frank Martin (Statham) defies logic and physics and delivers some great action scenes. Statham plays this character all the time and I like it. I hope he doesn't stop. He's really good at being Jason Statham. His co-star, Qi Shu (playing Lai) has moments of 'she can't act' but then I remember I'm watching a comic book where shit doesn't have to make sense. The bottom line is this is a goofy action movie that delivers a lot of over the top thrills, kills and explosions. It's not supposed to be remotely serious but I wish they had at least tried. It's a B-picture waffling back and forth to an A-picture. Pick your destiny and just go with it. Although I'm not entirely satisfied with this film I will give the two (so far) sequels a spin.