Nobody does crazy little action movies like Luc Besson, the French creator of “The Professional,” “La Femme Nikita,” and Jet Li’s recent “Unleashed.” But Besson has over-extended himself with “Transporter 2,” a sequel to his hit film from 2002.
| Breaking the wrong rules: Not nearly as much fun as the first movie, with professional courier and ace driver Frank Martin (Jason Statham) moved to Miami for a job that turns into a kidnapping case. The film has its action moments, but there’s too little playing by the rules here.
Rated: PG-13 rating is for violence, subject matter. Now showing: Everett 9, Galaxy, Loews at Alderwood, Marysville, Mountlake, Stanwood, Meridian, Metro, Oak Tree, Woodinville, Cascade, Oak Harbor Plaza. |
The original “Transporter” was a slick rubber-burner about a driver who transports illicit cargo from one shady character to another. The movie had ingenious action sequences, great European locations, and an exciting tough-guy star in Jason Statham.
The follow-up film moves the action to Miami, which instantly makes it a much more conventional-looking picture. Statham is back, thank goodness, as Frank Martin, wheel man extraordinaire.
Frank’s got his hands full when a client’s little boy is kidnapped. But this is no ordinary ransom – the Euro-trashy bad guy (spooky Alessandro Gassman) has his hands on a very communicable virus and a very pointy hypodermic needle. Whatever his plan is, it probably involves the kidnapped boy’s father (Matthew Modine), a Cabinet-level drug czar.
The movie starts nicely, although it’s nowhere near as cool as the first “Transporter” opening. Frank gets a good vibe going with the drug czar’s lonely wife (Amber Valetta, from “Hitch”), while still fulfilling the terse behavior code of an action hero. Fans of the first film will recall that Frank has rules, and he’s got even more of them in the sequel.
Amber Valetta is a supermodel, but she’s not the film’s signature babe. That honor goes to Kate Nauta, also a model, who plays the bad guy’s henchgirl. A punked-out bleach-blond beanpole, Nauta has a distracting tendency to wear a bikini and stiletto heels while she’s blasting away on her automatic weapons. This may not be credible, but boy, does it work.
More serious credibility problems follow. The first “Transporter” was wild and woolly, but at least it played within certain rules, and rules are supposedly important to this franchise. Here, Frank is able to do just about anything with his car and his much-abused body, including stunts that border on the supernatural. When he flips his car in mid-air to unhook a bomb from the undercarriage, “The Transporter” officially jumps the shark.
There are too many of these eye-rollers to forgive. Besson co-wrote and produced the film, with direction by Louis Leterrier and second-unit and stunt work directed by Corey Yuen. They all worked on the previous “Transporter,” but don’t bring the sparkle this time.
What makes a movie like this work are the little things, not the flying cars. When Frank, his clothing torn, opens his trunk, he finds a replacement white shirt and black tie waiting for him there. Perfect, but too rare.
Jason Statham returns in “Transporter 2.”
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