Rating: Summary: One of the Best Action Movies of the Year! Review: The great thing about The Transporter is that the action never stops. It only takes a breather for a few minutes at a time to develop the plot. The fact that it HAS a coherent plot sets it apart from most action movies I've seen recently. The one liners aren't too cheesy, the action is just enough over the top to entertain you without insulting your intelligence, and the trailer didn't give away even a fraction of the great scenes in the movie. The good guys are likable, the bad guys are detestable. The character interaction is enjoyable at all times. Jason Statham is certainly establishing himself as an action movie leading man. I hope more roles like this will follow for him. Qu Shi was beautiful as the "package"Well the movie finally started and right away I was pleasantly surprised , I even commented to my wife as we were watching , " I'm really liking this movie". Statham plays an interesting character as an ex Special Forces type that retired on the coast of France, taking work on the side as a transporter of extremely hot illegal packages that even the criminals would not want to transport themselves. He is a no questions asked one man Federal Express type transporter of illegal goods. He is just the right person for the job too, highly experienced ex military , quick thinking , organized and effective and can't be pushed around by even his hardest core customers. Now Statham is a meticulous professional that takes pride in his work, who lives by a set of simple rules. 1) Once you agree to the contract, it does not change, 2) No names / no questions asked 3) never look in the package. Well the story is basically what happens when he breaks rule # 3. I will leave at that for those who may not have seen the movie yet. If you like action, this movie is a MUST SEE!
Rating: Summary: Rule #3: Don't Look in the Package Review: There are intellegent action movies, those with interesting plotting, those with chemistry between the leads: The Transporter is not one of those films. The Transporter is action qua action. The plot (what there is of one) is simple Frank Martin (Jason Statham) is a transporter. He is the personthat can get any package anywhere no questions asked. Sort of the Fed Ex version of James Bond. Martin lives by three simple rules: 1) Don't change the deal, 2) Don't ask for names and 3) Don't look in the package. On a routine transport Frank breaks one of his rules and finds beautiful Lai (Qi Shu) in a bag. Lai's father and a mobster named Wall Street are importing slaves in cargo containers into Marseilles. This must be stopped. It is here that all semblence of reality goes out the window and the movie reverts to mindless action. There is not much holding the film together and at times looks like one big extended car chase/ fight scene. Sort of a BMW commercial with violence. The film is the English language debut feature of martial arts director Corey Yuen. Yuen was helped by French action director Luc Besson. Their collaboration leads to a beautiful looking film that really is a bit of a mess. Statham may be an up and coming actor in the Jean Claude van Damme mode but he is not there yet. Shu is quite beautiful but she has not mastered enough of English to be more than eye candy and the PG-13 rating does not help to create the sexual chemistry necessary for the pair to work. This Fox DVD has additional star and producer commentary, a making of featurette, and extended fight scenes with or without commentary. The added fight scenes , to be honest, didn't look a whole lot different from what appeared in the finished cut of the film. A problem with the special features is that some are located on each side of the disc. I hate flipping discs to get to other featres. On the whole the Transporter doesn't offer much more than mindless action . Check your brain at the door and watch it for what it is. If you absolutely need to add it to your collection look for it as a previed DVD or in the bargain bin.
Rating: Summary: 2 stars for... Review: I give 2 stars to this movie. One is for the acting I found not so bad and the second one is for the fight scenes I found quite creative. Now let me tell you that the story is bad with many and many impossibilities. It's dumb and you know it as soon as you watch the first 5 minutes in the movie. Jason Statham manages the whole thing not to look like an idiot and he succeeds. The French cop is a talented French actor and it helps too. This movie is the perfect example of the very bad script produced by good money. Thanks to Luc Besson. Conclusion : Watch this movie if you like Vandamme style, action + action = action (it's the formula) and if you like not to think while watching.
Rating: Summary: Smooth Operator/ Sublime Panache !!! Review: Amidst the world of Super Heros, Tough Guys, and Martial Artists comes a refreshingly different bad guy/ good guy character that is reminiscent of Paul Newman playing Cool Hand Luke. Just when I thought I was getting tired of action movies due to the predictable flow, and tired rehashed plotlines, I stumbled upon a webpage suggesting this movie as a contender for action flick of 2003. Since I had never even heard of the movie I was intrigued and when I saw it ( 3 times so far ) I was most pleasantly surprised and even mesmerized by a movie so subtle, and yet in your face from start to finish. My favorite scene is the improvised ballet performance on the metal bike pedal cleats in the oil slick battle. How someone could not feel the cinematic genius in this endeavor is beyond me. The Transporter is a " Diamond in the Rough " and the sleeper hit of 2003. Looking forward to "T2" if they decide to make one. Kudos
Rating: Summary: How about a little more on the storyline? Review: The plot is very thin. And there are a lot of inconsistencies, but if you are an action junkie, you probably won't care too much. There's plenty of explosions, car/truck chases and Jason Statham shirtless. I have never seen him in another movie, but I think he is physically appealing and has what it takes to be the white guy version of Jackie Chan and Jet Li. The DVD version is nice to own/watch because of the extra features. And it confirmed my suspicion about this move. That someone said "hey let's make a martial arts-kinda-movie with lots of explosions and fights scenes." Then everybody got up and started blowing stuff up. And ofcourse someone forgot to write a decent script. The positive side of this movie is the exposure of Statham and Shu Qi to American moviegoers. They are both gorgeous looking people. Statham is all muscles, compact and fast but can actually act when required. Shu Qi holds her own in this movie. You can tell she couldn't really speak English because she carefully enunciated her lines, but that's a minor distraction. And one side bar: Shu Qi was the number one choice to play the Zhang Ziyi character in "Crouching Tiger.." What a a missed oppurtunity.
Rating: Summary: Worth One Viewing & Only One Review: I made the mistake of watching this more than once. In the theater, on a huge screen in a dark room, the action scenes are incredible and the story reasonable enough. On repeated viewings, numerous mistakes in continuity, logic and possibility become obvious. For our hero to have accomplished a few of his feats, he would have been blessed with either x-ray vision or clairvoyancy. The movie takes great pains to repeatedly tell and show the viewer what an "I" dotting "T" crossing exacting professional our hero is. That Mr. Self Control spends the vast majority of the movie behaving with the self control of a ten year old with ADD seems incongruous. Also, word to the unwise, never establish yourself in an extremely dangerous business and deliberately place yourself in the position of having to trust extremely untrustworthy strangers who might not have your best interests at heart. Rule number three should really be: I always get to know what's in the package because, when I'm out there driving, its my butt on the line, not yours and, after all, it might be a bomb. Luc Besson's fingerprints are all over this movie. Its another one of his damsel in distress vehicles. Both the 5th Element and The Professional are along the same lines and are much better movies.
Rating: Summary: Rule #4: Forget about Vin Diesel, Statham is the real deal! Review: This movie rocked ,Jason Statham who was in Snatch,and Lock Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels is a courier who transporst dangerous cargo with no questions asked. But when he opens the package, he finds a hot babe played by Shu Qi, and then his trouble begins.This movie has some of the coolest stunts and action ever seen, much better than XXX and the Matrix combined.In a fight, Jason Statham would wipe the floor with Vin Diesel. Another good point is that Jason Statham is easy to undertsand, I watched part of XXX and couldn't comprehend a word of that idiot Vin Diesel. Bottom Line: Transporter is the next generation action movie. This package deserves to be opened.
Rating: Summary: Mindless Fun Review: You had one of those terrible weeks - traveling all over the country. Alas, you return to homebase in time for the Friday unwind. Get home, crack open a Heineken, fire up the home theatre and pop in The Transporter. If you were observant enough to take in the cover (man floating through air, BOTH guns ready) you know what's in store for your viewing pleasure. You won't be disappointed. However, if you need dose of sober reality you might want to move on. May I suggest The Killing Fields or Requiem for a Dream to go with your herbal tea? We all need our cerebral stimulation, but The Transporter won't fit the bill. Oh, and if your date (or spouse) happens to be into BMWs, she might enjoy it as well.
Rating: Summary: A Nonsense Masterpiece Review: I guess action movies don`t get more dumber than this. Pick a paper-thin, generic plot, add some bland to terrible acting, a bad soundtrack and many ridiculous, over-the-top action scenes. Don`t forget the typical, unbelievable and utterly useless romance. Oh, and characters with a really bad accent. There, this is basically what this movie has to offer. That, and a lot of cars and explosions. Not much to say. Luc Besson, who directed the grotesque "The Fifth Element" and the tepid "The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc" is somewhat related to this movie, so beware. Skip it.
Rating: Summary: a decent action flick but nothing to brag about Review: the movie is nothing to brag about but its good enough to give you a rush, decent amount of action but the only thing i was unhappy about is i found the movie a bit short or it need that bit extra action, it wasn't the budget as i've seen van-damme movies with the same budget but this movie needed that bit extra umf to make it a perfect movie.
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