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Transporter 3

Movie Grade:B-

DVD Features Grade: C+

Overall Grade: B-

The first Transporter film burst onto the action movie scene in 2002 with a mix of colorful cinematography, fast paced action set pieces, and entertaining dialogue along the level of the sophisticated cheese one might find in an early Bond film. It was also the first time Jason Statham, who had impressed in his earlier Guy Ritchie ensembles, was given the starring role as Frank Martin, an ex-seal whose new occupation sees him making high stakes deliveries for shady clientele. With his gentlemanly "rules" and general imperviousness to harm, Statham crafted a character so successful he's pretty much been playing a clone of him ever since.

The 2005 sequel proved to be an unfortunate casualty of sheer excess. With a larger budget than it's predecessor, new director Louis Leterrier, of The Incredible Hulk fame, amplified everything that wasn't great about the first film, and threw away most of what had actually worked, delivering a soulless and ludicrously over the top follow up. Comparisons to John Woo's Mission Impossible 2 are unavoidable. Having seen both films in theaters, I was convinced that Transporter 2 would be the nail in the coffin for the series, but 3 years later, writer Luc Besson has coaxed Jason Statham back into the driver's seat under the direction of Olivier Megaton in his American film debut. Is this third outing worth your hard earned cash?

The short answer: yes and no. The series goes back to its roots with interesting characters and exotic locals, makes a mighty effort to integrate the fights and explosions into the story itself, and lands squarely between its predecessors. If you're looking for a fun, adrenaline fueled ride with your old buddy Frank and his signature Audi, this will be a nice coming home present. The car chases are tightly edited and exciting, the stunts are more modestly sized than the second film, but staged with more care and, dare I say, a hint of realism.

The love interest never completely works, but it's more due to a lack of chemistry between Statham and Natalya Rudakova than a fault of the writing. The script certainly takes its time building the scenes they share, and indeed, that's really the only place this film takes its time. The cringe worthy hyper editing that has plagued fight scenes for the past few years rears its head again here, tarnishing the one aspect of the series that has remained at a high caliber since the first film, the hand to hand combat. There are places where the camera pulls back and we get the sense of what is going on, but they are few and far between, and the 300-esque speed shifts come as the only improvement, heightening the intensity of the combat and the car chase sequences without

crossing the line into the horribly cheesy.

The sad part of the story, however, is that the only truly original idea which distinguishes this film from the others in the series is also its most cliché. When Frank gets an explosive wristband clamped on his arm at the start of the job, we are told that if he gets beyond a certain distance from the car, he will blow up. It's not a race against time, but it still complicates the plotline in so far as he'll be forced to go to ludicrous measures to stay inside a certain distance from his car at all times.

For every action movie, you need a worthy opponent for your bulletproof hero. Robert Knepper is easily the best bad guy I've seen for an action film in quite a while, and nails everything from the gravely voice to the spur of the moment violence which leaves even his own men on edge. Towards the end of the film he starts to get a little preachy, but in a film like this, we'd be surprised if he didn't. I hope somebody gives that guy some work because he's quite the adversary and manages to convincingly give Statham a run for his money.

It's not going to win any awards, in fact it's probably not going to stick with the viewer longer than the morning after they watch it, but if you're a fan of the original, it is certainly a must-see, and at the very least, a must-rent. Newcomers will want to check the first film out, but they should definitely skip straight to this one. It's the sequel Transporter 2 never was, and an admirable first effort in the states for its impressively named director.

The Extras:

I'm already getting sick of movie studios calling something a "2-Disc Special Edition" when the second disc is just a digital copy of the movie, and to go all the way to "2-Disc Fully Loaded Edition" is past the point of utter ridiculousness. That being said, if we were to look at this as a one disc DVD, as I plan on doing, there's a few worthwhile things they've crammed in here.

There's two 15-minute featurettes, one about Transporters in the real world that actually makes it seem like the film is based on reality (it's a nice try, but they're a little bit too choosy about who they interview) and one fairly standard making of the movie segment. There are very brief (and I mean 2 minutes tops) glances at the special effects, sets, and storyboard to film comparisons, as well as a whole slew of trailers for this and other Lionsgate films. If you don't mind his accent you'll find the director's commentary to be enjoyable for the most part, and as usual, nothing to write home about. Overall, it's the movie you want, not

the extras, but it would have been nice if they'd at least tried to beef up the release to match the title their marketing team bestowed upon it.

Movie Grade:B-

DVD Features Grade: C+

Overall Grade: B-