The Transporter is a thriller directed by Louis Leterrier and Cory Yuen. I watched this movie a long time ago, and it was the movie that stirred my love for Jason Statham.
The Trailer
In the movie, Frank, who is Jason Statham, is a highly skilled ex-special forces operative who is living a quiet life. He operates as a mercenary, known as the Transporter, moving high-risk black market packages in his custom car. Frank in this movie adheres to three strict rules in his business: one, never change the deal; two, no names; and three, never look in the package.
This rule dynamic creates an engaging hook in the movie, making it fun to watch him try and fail to stay out of trouble when his moral compass takes over. Exactly that happened when he met an American criminal named "Wall Street," who hired him to deliver a bulky truck. On his way, Frank noticed the bag moving. Breaking his cardinal rule, he opened the package to find a bound and gagged young lady in it.
Even though the package was delivered, Frank escaped an assassination attempt unnoticed, Wall Street had planted a bomb in the car. Frank reacted by blowing up Wall Street's base, stealing his car, and taking the girl with him. Along the way, Frank learned that the girl is the daughter of a human trafficking leader who smuggles immigrants in containers. Now Frank took it upon himself to destroy the trafficking ring and free the hostages as he abandoned his strict code.
One of the movie's strengths is that it does not rely purely on gunfights; the action relies heavily on physical improvisation and devising ways to conceal and escape enemies. Another strength is Frank's stunt work. In the movie, he did the majority of the driving and fighting, which gave the physical combat a believable weight and impact. Personally, I noticed great character chemistry, especially between Frank and the inspector.
The criticism of this movie is centered on its light character depth and thin plot, which shows the great work the directors put in making the movie stand out in other areas.
In conclusion, the movie is a great watch because of the following: the pure nostalgic fun. This works for fans of 2000s stunts, driving sequence craftsmanship, and martial arts. Also, the zero pretense in the movie, the director knew what he wanted and finally, the rules dynamic, which I mentioned earlier. Every viewer loves a movie where the protagonist sets rules, then they sit back and watch the protagonist struggle to maintain them.
