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Luc Besson. I like him, really I do. This is the filmmaker that
brought me La Femme Nikita, The Professional and The Fifth Element.
Great films all brought together by the one truth that should be
known about all of his films – the simpler the story line, the
better the movie.
Do not confuse simple with “a lot of stuff happens.” Sure, his
movies are full of lots of explosions, fights, guns, cars,
explosions, fights, guns, cars…well, you get the picture.
And this is exactly how The Transporter began. Good old-fashioned
nod-to-The-French-Connection-car-chases, an ultra-cool anti-hero who
knows everything and talks in metric (we did need to learn it!) and
camera moves designed to dare that extra-onion foot-long chili-dog
to stay down.
Here’s the deal with Luc Besson. You get a simple story that centers
around an anti-hero. Said simple story is wrapped in visually
appealing sets, costumes and lighting. On top of that, we are
guaranteed new ways to blow things up and fight with the anti-hero’s
enemy. No more, no less.
The trailers for The Transporter promised the same thing would
happen. Story line should have been: cool guy (played by cool guy
Jason Statham) transports things; finds girl in trunk; goes against
better judgement to help girl, gets in many cool fights, stuff blows
up, then comes happy ending. We were so close. So close.
BUT NO.
Luc Besson decides to go against the tried-and-true and add a
friggin’ story line. Something about container ships, parental
control, modern-day slave trade and the like. It make little sense
to me. For the boys in the front row yelling “boo,” there was some
sweet release. For the rest of us with manners, we suffered along
with what I can only refer to as “the really, really slow stuff
between fights.”
The real story is simple enough. We have “the transporter.” Rule
number one – no names. Rule number two – don’t change the original
plan. Rule number three – don’t open the package. He’s your buff,
mysteriously wealthy man with the ability to transport whatever you
need wherever you want for a price. From the moment we learn these
three simple rules, we know that all three will be broken in
brilliant succession. We know that we’ll see cool action sequences
with a Hong Kong flair because Luc Besson merely wrote and stood by
the film as producer – the film is actually directed by Corey Yuen,
perhaps best known for his prior work in Hong Kong cinema (it’s very
vogue, you know).
Regardless, this broken rule involves a girl – so we know that the
testosterone will fly. Fly in the form of axe fights, exploding
cars, rocket-launchers, oil-drenched kung-fu sequences and a fight
on an 18-wheeler.
I understand that family is an important aspect in Asian cinema (see
any John Woo film if you don’t believe me). I cling to this fact
because it means that maybe, just maybe Luc Besson will be back to
his old self and giving me the simple films that I have come to know
and love. Perhaps he’ll show Corey how it doesn’t always have to be
about family – sometimes it’s just about a hot boy, a hot girl, and
a lot of cool fighting sequences.
The Usual:
What it’s Worth: Save this for the dollar-theater, unless you have
to be the first to see the action sequences – then go for the
matinee.
Main Reason To See This Film: Inspired action sequences – a French
Connection meets any Jet Li film sort of thing.
Main Reason Not To See This Film: You will find yourself having to
suddenly care about why the characters do what they do. It’s not
that interesting.
MPAA Rating: PG-13.
Nudity: No. Husband wanted more than just wet underwear (I, on the
other hand, was more than satisfied with male shirtless action).
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