The Transporter: Review By moviegeek

Jason Statham is great as an action star, but he is poisonous when he speaks. He has a very nasally and congested sound to his voice that destroys the tough persona he conducts through his fighting. But here both elements of his person are put into the best possible use.

Statham is Frank, a man who delivers packages without any questions asked. Things change when one of his deliveries turns out to be a gagged Asian woman (Shu Qi). From there, Frank gets pulled into the history and mystery of her past and present.

The movie begins fabulously when Frank arrives to pick up robbers from a heist. When four men get into the car, expecting him to go, he calmly says, "The deal was three men, 274 kilos in weight." After shooting one of their own men, the escapists are taken on a wild ride through the narrow city with some incredible stunts.

Now back to Statham. The reason this performance works is because he isn't a gritty, earthy fellow. He is refined. He constantly brushes off his expensive suit jacket, he babies his car, he seems prudy (my word for prudent and snooty), but the action proves otherwise.

Plotwise, The Transporter is not compelling, nor is it believable. The acting is rather tedious here, especially on the part of the kidnapped girl. The fight scenes have that tedious routine of one man attacking our hero at once, instead of having all of them jump him.

But the reason it all works, is because of how it is shot. The Transporter deserves kudos for finally being a fast-paced action movie whose contained action is comprehensible. The camera-work is flawless. I could always tell what was going on and where the characters were. There wasn't the excessive queasy-cam, hyper-energized shooting style of many action pictures today.

The Transporter was fun to watch. I guess that's what counts in an action movie. Even if I wasn't engrossed in the plot or the characters, I was definitely engrossed in the action. And since 75% of this brief adventure is action, then 75% of it is just fantastic.