...Transporter 3 does manage to sporadically capture one's interest with its expectedly thrilling action sequences...
Transporter 3 (2008)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:105
Fresh:39
Rotten:66
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
Who cares about the laws of physics when there's a chance for some really cool and stylish acrobatics? That's what athlete-turned actors and special effects are for!
What we want from a title like Transporter 3 is breakneck excitement, incredible physicality, and enough awe-inspired knuckle busting to make us forget the lack of a cohesive narrative or solid characterization. Our nuclear namesake can't even get the adr
...a good old-fashioned genre film that delivers and does it well enough to stand on its own.
It falls flat on all fronts, with a ridiculous, nonsensical story; drab, lifeless characters; and action sequences more worthy of direct-to-DVD distribution than the silver screen.
With Jason Bourne and a rebooted James Bond bringing the action genre back down to earth, Jason Statham's dashing wheelman has stepped into the vacuum and given audiences the shallow, dopey, gadget-heavy, anti-realistic thrills they deserve.
The Transporter series turned Brit actor Jason Statham into a movie star. But maybe its time to hang up his car keys. Hes better than this.
With a surfeit of plot, Transporter 3 stills ends up defying logic and most of the laws of physics by the time its explosive climax rolls around.
An attempt to butch the franchise back up after the thickly frosted, logic-free happenings of the last installment, Transporter 3 actually prefers gloom and doom, thus creating a joyless machine of violence.
A stiflingly dull and useless caper that's all the more aggravating when you recall how giddy the original film was.
[It] could never be deemed a 'good movie' but it's one of those bad movies so entertaining and fun it's hard to fully condemn it.
The director of the third Transporter movie has given himself the name 'Olivier Megaton.' Too easy, you say? Very well. Make your own 'bomb' joke.
The most frustrating entry into a series that has never set the bar terribly high.
Eurotrash...a splashy but tedious retread that suggests the franchise has totally run out of gas.
This is not a real plot, and because it wastes so much time trying to convince us that it is, Transporter 3 isn't any fun.
As disposable as a travel toothbrush, and an effective palate cleanser between the boredom of Twilight and the heavy Oscar contenders coming soon.
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