MOVIE REVIEW: ‘Transporter 3’ just another action movie
I remember a time when filmmakers used only a few wide angle shots for a fight scene, but now it’s a few hundred. I remember when action movies knew exactly what they were, and didn’t try to pump in anything other than explosions and testosterone. I even remember when big fight scenes in the movies took real choreography to pull off. Those times are dead.
After seeing “Quantum of Solace” just a few weeks ago, I was ready for an action movie where I could actually tell what was going on. The first “Transporter” movie has some delightful and beautifully choreographed fight scenes. The camera would pan back as Jason Statham tip-toed across and oil slick, wearing bike pedals on his feet, kicking people in the face.
“Transporter 3” features the same Jason Statham in dizzy, one-second bursts that hardly convey much more than a blurry leg or fist. Unlike “Solace,” the camera in “Transporter 3” stays relatively still, but the quick cuts make it almost impossible to make out anything that’s going on.
Frank Martin (Statham) is the transporter. He delivers highly valuable goods for his clients. His clients are always of the unsavory sort and Frank always finds himself in some sort of predicament. This time he finds out he’s transporting something very unusual. He’s also been given a bracelet that will blow him sky high if he gets too far away from his car. See, I told you he always finds himself in a predicament.
The plot takes Frank and a girl named Valentina across Europe. Frank drives his own Audi A8, which apparently can do quite a few things. It even drives well after being at the bottom of a lake, go figure.
The villain isn’t even worth mentioning, since the reason we go and see the “Transporter” movies is to see one of the great western martial artists perform. Statham is a master of his craft, and it’s a delight to watch him in movies that properly feature his martial arts. Sadly, this is not one of those films. We spend more time listening to Valentina whine than we do with Statham kicking butt.
What we do get in action scenes are near indecipherable and generic in thought. Take for example, after Frank fights off an entire gang of men the “big guy” enters.
Frank: “Are you the smart one?”
One big guy: “No, I’m the big one.”
Har har har, real funny. The “big guy” has been worn out ever since the “Indiana Jones” franchise beat it to death.
It seems that the “Transporter” series is yet another victim of the generic action film. It’s sad to see another original franchise head down that road.
–aaron.peck@aggiemail.usu.edu
Grade: C