Movie Review: Transporter 3

    

Transporter 3
2008, 100mins, PG-13
Director: Olivier Megaton
Writer: Luc Besson
Cast includes: Jason Statham, Natalya Rudakova, Robert Knepper, François Berléand
Release Date: 26th November 2008

Expectations are the film lovers worst enemy and best friend. Every year several big blockbusters and pieces of Oscar bait are promoted in such a fashion that it’s hard not to become excited and expect alot, only for them to be released and end up punting far below your past hopes. However by the same token there are always a few movies in the cinematic year that do the reverse, promise to be turgid rubbish and actually end up being surprisingly watchable and enjoyable. Transporter 3 is such a picture, I expected pure drivel and got a solidly made actioner with an affable sense of humor. I’m not saying it’s going to end up in anybody’s Top 10 for 2008 list indeed I’ll probably have forgotten it by Christmas, but for its runtime at least Transporter 3 is good fun.

Frank Martin (Jason Statham) is the world’s best “transporter” if you want something valuable and important delivered across the globe he’s your man. This time he’s been set the task of delivering the daughter of a powerful Ukrainian politician. The girl in question is called Valentina (Natalya Rudakova) and she being held hostage until her father signs permits so criminal mastermind Johnson (Robert Knepper) can dump toxic waste all over his country. Johnson has set Frank the task of delivering the hostage to him after the papers have been signed, and electronically rigged the car and it’s two passengers so that if they try anything stupid, they’ll be blown to kingdom come. This leaves Frank and Valentina is a harsh position, they need to try and stop Johnsons plan but getting into a position where that is possible is going to be easier said than done.
T
ransporter 3 is heavily flawed, its plot is flimsy, some of the acting is weak and at 100 minutes it outlives it’s welcome ever so slightly. Still thanks to energetic direction of the action sequences by Olivier Megaton and a shockingly affable performance by Jason Statham the whole affair ends up as a perfectly acceptable popcorn muncher.
Statham’s last film was the unfortunate Death Race, a limp thriller that featured Statham doing what he usually does; handing in a banal and wooden performance. So whilst the man certainly shouldn’t expect any awards gongs come next spring it’s utterly surprising to see him anchor this film with a rather engaging and comically competent lead turn. There are still several instances where he slips into his “old ways” but overall director Megaton has drawn out a respectable action lead performance from Statham. As the pieces villain Knepper is pretty formulaic but suitably nasty, again it’s unlikely the performance will become a genre favorite but overall it serves its purpose pretty well. From there on in things start to go down the drain, stock totty Natalya Rudakova is sinfully wooden whilst François Berléand despite providing a few nice touches is underused and only really serves to draw the films length beyond its means. The rest of the cast are either unconvincing are play poorly written characters, so either ways it’s a lose situation.

The relentless action and spirited nature of the production are what warrant it the brainless recommendation I’m dishing out, the fight scenes are all pretty exciting and Megaton shoots some of the best automobile moments the whole year has thrown up. Death Race was all about the cars yet Transporter 3 has one chase sequence that outweighs anything in that whole feature. Actually scrap that, if you count a scene where Statham chases a car on a bicycle then it has two. The martial arts are superbly shot and structured by veteran Corey Yeun whilst Megaton all coats it in a suitably glossy and attractive coating. Basically thanks to the action actually being exciting and the quips wonderfully cheesy the whole thing betters alot of the action features of recent months, including Bond 22 Quantum of Solace. If during the Summer I thought I’d write Transporter 3 was better than Bond I would have committed myself to an asylum, yet here we are it actually is.

I could labor longer on this one and heckle it for a few other faults, but I’m not because essentially Transporter 3 has the decency to do what it says on the tin. Its advertising campaign never promised a classic and you certainly don’t get one, but it’s great fun and for action junkies should provide enjoyment to boot. It’s big, it’s cheesy, it’s dumb and predictably forgettable but in truth I just had a blast with Transporter 3. By no means does this entail that they should make a fourth, but director Megaton deserves a chance at making further actioners. Maybe if they’re done having Bond brood, it could be him who brings 007 back to his bombastic and popcorn friendly origins. We will see.