With The Transporter: Refueled being released this weekend I thought it would be fitting to review the other films in The Transporter franchise. So without further ado...
The Transporter
Frank Martin (played by Jason Statham) is a former Special Forces officer who lives on the French Mediterranean and has a lucrative second career as a underworld courier for hire. Martin will deliver anything anywhere, but he has three iron-clad rules - once the plan is in motion it cannot be changed, neither he nor his customers are to ever use their real names, and under no circumstances will he open the package. Martin is hired to make a delivery to a wealthy but unscrupulous American known as Wall Street (played by Matt Schulze), but after taking possession of the package he realizes that whatever is inside happens to be alive. Breaking his own rule, Martin opens the bag to discover a beautiful Asian woman, Lai (played by Shu Qi), who is bound and gagged. Lai briefly escapes, but Martin captures her, and delivers her to Wall Street as promised. However, after being given a parcel to deliver by Wall Street, Martin finds out what Wall Street is up to - in partnership with Lai's father Mr. Kwai (played by Ric Young), Wall Street is part of a scheme to smuggle Asian illegal aliens into France. Martin's conscience gets the better of him, and he sets out to rescue Lai and put Wall Street and Mr. Kwai out of business; however, as if this wasn't enough of a challenge, Martin discovers a French detective, Tarconi (played by Francois Berleand) has gotten wind of his illegal business.
This is just a fun action movie to watch. Jason Statham is one of the most charismatic actors working today and this was actually is very first leading role in a film and he knocks out it of the park. The action in the film is fast-paced and all over the place at times, but it flow so smoothly that you hardly see any faults. The writing for the film is terrific and credit to Luc Besson for coming up with just a fantastic script with a lot of great witty dialogue. The film is just a huge boost of energy that will keep you on the edge of your seat the entire time. The story itself is interesting and the dialogue is great, the story is pretty bland and while it does bring a lot of the things you look for in an action film, it just doesn't connect well at all. The action as mentioned before is great, but it can sometimes get a little too crazy and over-the-top, Overall this is a really fun film, but it has some pretty bland storytelling moments. I give The Transporter a 7 out of 10.
The Transporter 2
Frank Martin (played by Jason Statham) is a former special-forces officer who will transport anything anywhere for a price, and his latest assignment is acting as chauffeur for Jack Billings (played by Hunter Clary), the young son of politician Jefferson Billings (played by Matthew Modine), who has garnered no small amount of controversy for his aggressive efforts to stamp out the trade in illegal drugs. One day, Frank is to take Jack to the doctor for a checkup while his mother, Audrey (Amber Valletta), sets up a birthday party for the tyke. However, Jack's doctor is not who he appears to be -- he's actually Dimitri (played by Jason Flemyng), a Russian agent well versed in viruses who works with criminal kingpin Gianni (played by Alessandro Gassman). After a long and hard-fought chase with Frank, the bad guys get ahold of little Jack and hold him for ransom. The parents comply with their monetary demands and soon have their son back at home -- but little do they know that the boy has secretly been injected with a deadly and easily spread virus, which the terrorists hope to spread to the boy's powerful father and other politicians whom Jefferson will soon be addressing at a public event. When Frank learns what has happened to young Jack, he sets out to find the culprits -- and the antidote that will save the boy and all others who have been exposed to the virus from dying a painful death -- though his foes have stacked the deck so that it looks as if Frank has been complicit in the crime.
This is another really fun action film. One the things that is hard about action film sequels is trying not to repeat what the first film did in any aspect, this film does repeat some things, but not everything. The film has a lot of great action set pieces and they really work well and they keep the film flowing at a really great pace. Jason Statham does the best he can with the script he is given, but the dialogue just comes off as really cheesy and corny. Luc Besson is back at the helm writing the script, but it just feels like that he couldn't come up with another great story and just rehashed a lot of the same plot points in the first film. Another problem with the film is the replacing of Corey Yuen with Louis Leterrier. Now granted these two were co-directors on the first film, but Leterrier by himself is just pretty bad and there is not coherent thoughts in the film. Overall this film has some great action scenes, but the story is just absolutely terrible. I give Transporter 2 a 3 out of 10.
Transporter 3
Frank (played by Jason Statham) isn't exactly thrilled with his latest assignment, but when his employer turns up the pressure, he has little choice but to deliver. His cargo is a feisty young girl named Valentina (played by Natalya Rudakova) -- who just happens to be the daughter of Leonid Vasilev (played by Jeroen Krabbé), the powerful top dog of the Ukraine EPA. Now, as Frank makes his way through Stuttgart and Budapest on the road to the Black Sea, Vasilev's men besiege his car from all sides, and his cynical young passenger gets a bad case of Stockholm Syndrome. As the driver and his cargo grow increasingly close, they both realize that making even a single mistake could cost them dearly.
This is an absolutely terrible. Nothing about this film is fun like the previous two films were. Jason Statham looks really uncomfortable in the role he himself has made pretty well known and he kind of mails in the performance doing the best he with what he has to work with. The story is just dreadful and again like the second film it just rehashes a lot of the same plot points as the first film and it doesn't do anything original. In this film the director is Olivier Megaton and while he does bring a different style to the film that the previous two, it just doesn't mesh well with the script written once again by Luc Besson. Overall this is a just a complete and utter mess of a film. I give Transporter 3 a 0 out of 10.
Overall Franchise Rating: 3.5 out of 10
So ladies and gentlemen what do you think of The Transporter franchise, what would you rate the films, are you excited for The Transporter: Refueled and what did you think of my review? Let me know in the comments section below and let your voice be heard.
The Transporter
Frank Martin (played by Jason Statham) is a former Special Forces officer who lives on the French Mediterranean and has a lucrative second career as a underworld courier for hire. Martin will deliver anything anywhere, but he has three iron-clad rules - once the plan is in motion it cannot be changed, neither he nor his customers are to ever use their real names, and under no circumstances will he open the package. Martin is hired to make a delivery to a wealthy but unscrupulous American known as Wall Street (played by Matt Schulze), but after taking possession of the package he realizes that whatever is inside happens to be alive. Breaking his own rule, Martin opens the bag to discover a beautiful Asian woman, Lai (played by Shu Qi), who is bound and gagged. Lai briefly escapes, but Martin captures her, and delivers her to Wall Street as promised. However, after being given a parcel to deliver by Wall Street, Martin finds out what Wall Street is up to - in partnership with Lai's father Mr. Kwai (played by Ric Young), Wall Street is part of a scheme to smuggle Asian illegal aliens into France. Martin's conscience gets the better of him, and he sets out to rescue Lai and put Wall Street and Mr. Kwai out of business; however, as if this wasn't enough of a challenge, Martin discovers a French detective, Tarconi (played by Francois Berleand) has gotten wind of his illegal business.
This is just a fun action movie to watch. Jason Statham is one of the most charismatic actors working today and this was actually is very first leading role in a film and he knocks out it of the park. The action in the film is fast-paced and all over the place at times, but it flow so smoothly that you hardly see any faults. The writing for the film is terrific and credit to Luc Besson for coming up with just a fantastic script with a lot of great witty dialogue. The film is just a huge boost of energy that will keep you on the edge of your seat the entire time. The story itself is interesting and the dialogue is great, the story is pretty bland and while it does bring a lot of the things you look for in an action film, it just doesn't connect well at all. The action as mentioned before is great, but it can sometimes get a little too crazy and over-the-top, Overall this is a really fun film, but it has some pretty bland storytelling moments. I give The Transporter a 7 out of 10.
The Transporter 2
Frank Martin (played by Jason Statham) is a former special-forces officer who will transport anything anywhere for a price, and his latest assignment is acting as chauffeur for Jack Billings (played by Hunter Clary), the young son of politician Jefferson Billings (played by Matthew Modine), who has garnered no small amount of controversy for his aggressive efforts to stamp out the trade in illegal drugs. One day, Frank is to take Jack to the doctor for a checkup while his mother, Audrey (Amber Valletta), sets up a birthday party for the tyke. However, Jack's doctor is not who he appears to be -- he's actually Dimitri (played by Jason Flemyng), a Russian agent well versed in viruses who works with criminal kingpin Gianni (played by Alessandro Gassman). After a long and hard-fought chase with Frank, the bad guys get ahold of little Jack and hold him for ransom. The parents comply with their monetary demands and soon have their son back at home -- but little do they know that the boy has secretly been injected with a deadly and easily spread virus, which the terrorists hope to spread to the boy's powerful father and other politicians whom Jefferson will soon be addressing at a public event. When Frank learns what has happened to young Jack, he sets out to find the culprits -- and the antidote that will save the boy and all others who have been exposed to the virus from dying a painful death -- though his foes have stacked the deck so that it looks as if Frank has been complicit in the crime.
This is another really fun action film. One the things that is hard about action film sequels is trying not to repeat what the first film did in any aspect, this film does repeat some things, but not everything. The film has a lot of great action set pieces and they really work well and they keep the film flowing at a really great pace. Jason Statham does the best he can with the script he is given, but the dialogue just comes off as really cheesy and corny. Luc Besson is back at the helm writing the script, but it just feels like that he couldn't come up with another great story and just rehashed a lot of the same plot points in the first film. Another problem with the film is the replacing of Corey Yuen with Louis Leterrier. Now granted these two were co-directors on the first film, but Leterrier by himself is just pretty bad and there is not coherent thoughts in the film. Overall this film has some great action scenes, but the story is just absolutely terrible. I give Transporter 2 a 3 out of 10.
Transporter 3
Frank (played by Jason Statham) isn't exactly thrilled with his latest assignment, but when his employer turns up the pressure, he has little choice but to deliver. His cargo is a feisty young girl named Valentina (played by Natalya Rudakova) -- who just happens to be the daughter of Leonid Vasilev (played by Jeroen Krabbé), the powerful top dog of the Ukraine EPA. Now, as Frank makes his way through Stuttgart and Budapest on the road to the Black Sea, Vasilev's men besiege his car from all sides, and his cynical young passenger gets a bad case of Stockholm Syndrome. As the driver and his cargo grow increasingly close, they both realize that making even a single mistake could cost them dearly.
This is an absolutely terrible. Nothing about this film is fun like the previous two films were. Jason Statham looks really uncomfortable in the role he himself has made pretty well known and he kind of mails in the performance doing the best he with what he has to work with. The story is just dreadful and again like the second film it just rehashes a lot of the same plot points as the first film and it doesn't do anything original. In this film the director is Olivier Megaton and while he does bring a different style to the film that the previous two, it just doesn't mesh well with the script written once again by Luc Besson. Overall this is a just a complete and utter mess of a film. I give Transporter 3 a 0 out of 10.
Overall Franchise Rating: 3.5 out of 10
So ladies and gentlemen what do you think of The Transporter franchise, what would you rate the films, are you excited for The Transporter: Refueled and what did you think of my review? Let me know in the comments section below and let your voice be heard.
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