The Transporter (DVD Screening)

(Spoiler free)

I recently picked up a stack of Jason Statham films with the intention of having some brilliant action movie viewing ahead of me.  I decided that I would kick off with The Transporter, with what seemed like a simple but good plot I was excited to see Statham do his thing, this never happened.

The Transporter starts with a good car chase, that is simply the action though.  As for the acting, it was shocking.  Statham does manage to bring some skill to the film but it’s not difficult with the poor cast that surrounds him for the entirety of the film.  The music chosen to accompany this car chase was so peculiar, it just didn’t fit at all! This was a recurring problem all the music selected for this film was not appropriate.  This was a major issue as it meant the action had little pace and it failed to create any tension or an atmosphere or urgency, something a good score should be able to do without the viewer even realising.

Now the plot that is outlined on the back of the DVD, the main reason I bought the movie, doesn’t actually occur during this film.  The plot present in this film is so bizarre, it honestly just left me baffled as to how anyone would even comprehend it.  Simplicity would have been the key here but instead many pointless characters and ridiculous plot points are introduced.  The way in which characters simply appear on certain scenes is quite impressive too even when they are nowhere to be seen seconds before, its quite something.  I’m afraid not even Jason Statham can save this film, I did try to stick with it but I must have lasted under 30 minutes.  One scene in particular involving Statham skating over an oil spill on bicycle pedals while dealing with several of his assailants simultaneously just pushed me over the edge.  Also, talk about an annoying female lead, the Asian chick in this was so pathetic that it became infuriating and I’m not even going to bother going into the dialogue.

The Transporter also was simply a cheap reproduction of a mismatch of previous action films, the similarities were amusing at first but then it just became apparent that the script writers were lazy and drew influence from so many action films. Poor show.

BIGGEST FLAW – Stanley Clarke – composer of the score. NAMED and SHAMED

BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT – Statham breaks a door down at one point which is pretty cool

This film is an utter mess and the worst thing is I bought The Transporter 2 at the same time.  It might be a while before I can bring myself to explore the sequel, it’s a miracle that it was even given one!

Rating 2/10