I’ve been on what you’ll be able to name a Jason Statham binge as of late as I await A Working Man’s arrival on the 2025 film schedule, and that has consisted of me spending numerous hours watching a number of the finest motion motion pictures. This little exploration lately took me again to 2002’s The Transporter, a film that was critically all the fad after I began out in highschool. And let me inform you… this film nonetheless goes laborious 23 years later.
Nevertheless, it’s been years (I’d say a minimum of 20) since I sat down and watched Statham’s Frank Martin make and break his personal guidelines and the bones of anybody who bought in his approach, and so there’s some stuff I fully forgot about through the years. Plot factors, the wild music, and even two of one of the best motion sequences to ever characteristic the actor and stuntman advocate. Let’s make a journey down reminiscence lane as I break all of it down…
First Off, The Transporter Is Simply As Enjoyable As I Remembered
Although the Transporter franchise bought slightly out of hand and ultimately misplaced Jason Statham because the main man, the primary film within the collection is just about all killer and no filler. For those who have a look again at any compilation of the actor’s finest fights, a big chunk of these movies are going to include Frank Martin whooping ass all up and down the French Mediterranean coast prefer it’s nothing.
From begin to end, The Transporter is a enjoyable, chaotic, and brutal motion flick with a pacing that’s remarkably refreshing wanting again. With a runtime of slightly over 90 minutes, the film wastes no time getting issues going or maintaining with that tempo. However that doesn’t imply the film would not have time for jokes or Statham’s signature quick-witted angle, as a result of it thrives all through this film.
However I Utterly Forgot That The Film Begins With One Of The 2000s Finest Automotive Chases
Lengthy earlier than Jason Statham was drifting round and taking issues one quarter-mile at a time in the Quick & Livid motion pictures – hell, earlier than he popped up in The Italian Job – he was pushing vehicles to the restrict in The Transporter. And I simply should say that the sequence that opens up the film is legitimately one of many finest automobile chase scenes of the twenty first century (and maybe of all time). However I additionally should admit that I fully forgot about this badass scene till I rewatched the film. Disgrace on me, I do know!
From introducing us to Frank Martin’s guidelines – by no means change the deal, no names, and by no means open the package deal – to racing across the streets of Good, France, with cops on his tail after a financial institution theft to that miraculous leap the place he drives onto a semi-truck carrying automobiles down beneath, this was actually the most effective opening scenes I’ve seen in a very long time. And whereas I’m mad at myself for forgetting about it, watching the chain of occasions with no recollection was fairly grand.
I Remembered There Being Unbelievable Fights, However The Oil Brawl Legitimately Took Me By Shock
The Transporter is a Jason Statham film (one written by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen and directed by Corey Yuen and Louis Leterrier), so you understand it’s going to have some killer combat sequences. And boy, does it have some gnarly brawls at first is alleged and achieved. That mentioned, I fully forgot about what’s by far one of the best within the film and maybe considered one of Statham’s most absurd film moments: the oil brawl.
Close to the tip of the film, Frank Martin is in a bus depot the place he takes on a small military of unnamed goons. Although the group initially has the higher hand on account of outnumbering Frank, this dude spills outdated motor oil all over, rips off a number of the bike pedal straps for higher traction, and places a beating on these guys. It’s critically a number of the coolest stuff I’ve seen, and I couldn’t get sufficient of it.
In Their Personal Means, Each Of These Scenes Fairly A lot Established Jason Statham As An Motion Star
Jason Statham was already a star within the making by the early 2000s because of his roles in Lock, Inventory and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch – two of Man Ritchie’s finest motion pictures – however The Transporter made him one of many greatest motion stars on the planet. Although he had small components in a couple of motion flicks earlier than carrying Frank Martin’s signature swimsuit and tie, this efficiency was his popping out celebration. And we now have these two scenes to thank for it.
Whether or not Statham was driving, capturing, preventing, and discovering distinctive methods to take out henchmen, he appeared completely badass, plausible, and enjoyable to look at by way of all of it. No surprise he would comply with this up with The Italian Job, Mobile, and subsequent Transporter motion pictures earlier than ultimately becoming a member of the Expendables and Quick & Livid franchises. With out Frank Martin, there’s no Lee Christmas, and there’s no Deckard Shaw, and I don’t need to stay in that world.
I Know It is Off-Subject, However I Do not Bear in mind The Transporter Soundtrack Being So Horny
The Transporter got here out in 2002, so I knew there was going to be some music giving off critical early 2000s vibes. And there are because of bangers like Nate Dogg’s “I Acquired Love,” Missy Elliot’s “Scream a.okay.a. Itchin’,” and Benzino’s “Rock the Get together,” however I fully forgot about tracks that may finest be described as attractive, if that doesn’t sound too bizarre. Gerald Levert’s “Humorous,” is one good instance, as is Nadia’s “Lifetime of a Stranger,” however the monitor that takes the cake is the tune that performs as Frank and Lai Kwai (Shu Qi) swim to flee an explosion about midway by way of the film. I can’t discover any info on this monitor for the lifetime of me, but it surely’s so moody, sultry, and random in comparison with every little thing else within the film. There are hints of latest age, there are horns, and there’s even slightly flare that appears like a James Bond film. It’s nice!
With Jason Statham being a part of two of my most anticipated motion motion pictures of 2025 and past, perhaps I’ll have to return and revisit much more of his outdated motion pictures.