Spring Break
Just an OK ride with 'Transporter 3'
3 and a half out of 5 stars
Eric Nigosanti
Issue date: 12/2/08 Section: Focus
In a year of so-so action movies people have been eagerly awaiting the return to screen of our favorite brooding British action hero. Then, when Bond disappointed there was always Jason Statham. Regardless of the fact that he did an Uwe Boll movie, Statham will forever be beloved for his no nonsense, adrenaline overdosing, pure action movies including "Crank" and the original "Transporter." So heading into theaters for the second sequel to his breakthrough movie, people have at least that to count on.
In "Transporter 3" Jason Statham reprises his role as Frank Martin, a stoic delivery man for hire who will transport a package from point A to point B as quickly as possible with no questions asked. Also, if he needs to fight his way through waves of gun crazed people aiming to stop him, it is not a problem.
This is also the basic storyline for this movie, except he is forced into doing the job, there is some mysterious girl along for the ride, and both of them are forced to wear exploding wristbands.
The wristbands were the creative highlight of the movie and exploded whenever they left a 75-foot radius of the car Frank was driving. This insures that the transporter does not deviate too far from the mission.
The villain in the movie, known only as Johnson (Robert Knepper), forced Frank into the fold and also had an ulterior motive. It had something to do with the environment or toxic waste, but what it was does not matter. What does matter, is that this movie has Frank in plenty of car chases and butt-kicking all the baddies.
Of course the principled, knight-like Frank would be nothing without his steed: a tripped out black Audi S8. Bound to his car by the wristband, Frank is forced into some of his most creative driving yet.
If this was all the movie was, it would have been great, but unfortunately a girl had to be dragged in. The girl, Valentina, (Natalya Rudakova) was also bound to the car like Frank for reasons unbeknownst to him at the beginning. Her character offered little to the movie except a poor chemistry with Statham's character and a slow, accented speech that did not flow with the pace of the movie.
The movie's other flaw was director Oliver Megaton's need to shoot the action sequences like a Jason Bourne movie. The use of the shaky camera has mixed reception by audiences, but in the end it would be nice to actually see Statham beating the crap out of some overmatched guy.
Overall "Transporter 3" had some bold action scenes. So even though this installment was not on par with the first two, it is not bad enough to deter any Transporter fan from seeing a possible fourth one.
In "Transporter 3" Jason Statham reprises his role as Frank Martin, a stoic delivery man for hire who will transport a package from point A to point B as quickly as possible with no questions asked. Also, if he needs to fight his way through waves of gun crazed people aiming to stop him, it is not a problem.
This is also the basic storyline for this movie, except he is forced into doing the job, there is some mysterious girl along for the ride, and both of them are forced to wear exploding wristbands.
The wristbands were the creative highlight of the movie and exploded whenever they left a 75-foot radius of the car Frank was driving. This insures that the transporter does not deviate too far from the mission.
The villain in the movie, known only as Johnson (Robert Knepper), forced Frank into the fold and also had an ulterior motive. It had something to do with the environment or toxic waste, but what it was does not matter. What does matter, is that this movie has Frank in plenty of car chases and butt-kicking all the baddies.
Of course the principled, knight-like Frank would be nothing without his steed: a tripped out black Audi S8. Bound to his car by the wristband, Frank is forced into some of his most creative driving yet.
If this was all the movie was, it would have been great, but unfortunately a girl had to be dragged in. The girl, Valentina, (Natalya Rudakova) was also bound to the car like Frank for reasons unbeknownst to him at the beginning. Her character offered little to the movie except a poor chemistry with Statham's character and a slow, accented speech that did not flow with the pace of the movie.
The movie's other flaw was director Oliver Megaton's need to shoot the action sequences like a Jason Bourne movie. The use of the shaky camera has mixed reception by audiences, but in the end it would be nice to actually see Statham beating the crap out of some overmatched guy.
Overall "Transporter 3" had some bold action scenes. So even though this installment was not on par with the first two, it is not bad enough to deter any Transporter fan from seeing a possible fourth one.
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