It has the right mixture of gimmicky hooks and grindhouse appeal, but never exploits them properly.
Transporter 3 (2008)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:104
Fresh:39
Rotten:65
Average Rating:4.8/10
Consensus: This middling installment in the Transporter franchise is a few steps down from its predecessors, featuring generic stunts and a lack of energy.
Australian Theatrical Release:
Feb 5, 2009 Wide
US Box Office: $31,316,973
Synopsis: Combining Western-style car chases and Hong Kong-inspired fight sequences choreographed by martial arts legend Cory Yuen, the Luc Besson-created TRANSPORTER films have found international success... Combining Western-style car chases and Hong Kong-inspired fight sequences choreographed by martial arts legend Cory Yuen, the Luc Besson-created TRANSPORTER films have found international success as a sort of working-class James Bond series. Jason Statham, who has become the go-to guy for big-budget B-movie thrills, returns once again as Frank Martin, the driver-for-hire for whom no job is too risky. Brimming with the usual jaw-dropping stunts, this is another crowd-pleasing entry in the saga, delivered at a brisk and flashy clip by director Olivier Megaton. Following the coercion of Ukrainian environmental official Leonid Vasilev (Jeroen Krabbe) into signing papers permitting the shipping of toxic materials into a harbor by criminal mastermind Johnson (Robert Knepper), Frank Martin is forced into accepting the job of driving Vasilev's kidnapped daughter, Valentina (Natalya Rudakova)--acting as human collateral--from Marseilles to the Black Sea coastal city of Odessa. On the chance the Martin should attempt to flee, Johnson has rigged him with a bracelet that will detonate if he strays more than 75 feet from his car. When Valentina is intercepted by a rival group, Martin will have to push his Audi M8 to the limit to complete his mission and ensure his own survival. The TRANSPORTER films require copious amounts of suspension of disbelief, but then again, one doesn't hope they will strictly adhere to the laws of physics. The third volume provides ample thrills, not the least of which is the sight of a car driving off a bridge onto a moving train. Plenty of screen time is also given to Statham's superhumanly chiseled torso, while freckled Rudakova's unconventional beauty balances out the sex appeal. In the end, Statham's undeniable likeability propels the film, and his chemistry in a handful of scenes with François Berleand, returning as Inspector Tarconi, provides some nice comic moments. [More]
Starring: Jason Statham, Robert Knepper, Francois Berleand, Natalya Rudakova
Starring: Jason Statham, Robert Knepper, Francois Berleand, Natalya Rudakova, Jeroen Krabbe, Alex Kobold, David Atrakchi, Yann Sundberg, Eriq Ebouaney, David Kammenos, Silvio Simac
Director: Olivier Megaton
Director: Olivier Megaton
Screenwriter: Luc Besson, Robert Mark Kamen
Producer: Luc Besson, Steven Chasman
Composer: Alexandre Azaria
Studio: Lions Gate Films
Reviews for Transporter 3
Transporter 3 is built for action not Oscars, so things like physics and common sense don’t apply here.
The story is both unwieldy and nonsensical, spending, as it does, far too much time on the annoying Ukrainian, complicated plot twists and dialogue.
You know a series is in trouble when it begins mocking its own premise. Frank's obsessive rules about who, what and how he transports stuff are ruthlessly violated.
Questionable style aside, it does what it sets out to do -- entertain.
Somehow Statham comes out of this improbable thriller with his dignity intact. With classic action-hero qualities and dry wit, he seems woefully under-employed as a deliveryman.
Here's all fans need to know: Yes, Statham strips to the waist multiple times; yes, two dozen hopelessly outnumbered kung fu goons take on our lone hero one by one; and yes, he manages to outpace his Audi by bicycling through a congested sweatshop.
Like a collection of leftovers from the first two movies. Statham's heart doesn't really seem to be in it any more.
For those who believe that more is better, Transporter 3 is the best of the unapologetically ridiculous series.
The Transporter movies are considered by many to be a guilty pleasure, and maybe I'd feel that way, too, if I ever felt any guilt at the movies.
It creates quite the illusion of velocity but the confetti editing cheats the audience out of Hong Kong action maestro Corey Yuen's choreography and Statham's stiff, steely, strong-arm style of martial-arts fighting.
An action franchise in motion tends to stay in motion, long after logic or box office should bring it to a screeching halt.
All that inane chatter from Valentina detracts horribly from what is supposed to be going on in a Transporter movie -- mayhem.
If you're going to a no-frills action film, though, at least you want the action to be entertaining, which is where Transporter 3 falls down.
If anything, the third is an improvement on its immediate predecessor.
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