More action from the smokin' hot Jason Statham...cool yourselves girlies.... (Transporter 3 (DVD))

Member Name: sparkymarky1973

Product:	Transporter 3 (DVD)
Date:	29/05/09 (19 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: More of the same as the first two films

Disadvantages: Tries to get a bit political, topical and come across as a more serious franchise- hah!

Back when I first watched the original Transporter movie, never could I have imagined that it would spawn not just one but TWO sequels. I mean, hell yeah- the first film was much better than I had thought it might be and yeah, The Stathe was much better in the lead role than I had expected him to be but surely there was nowhere else for the character to go? How wrong could I be- because where there's a reasonably successful action movie, there always has to be a sequel. I mean, everybody loves sequels don't they?

Transporter 2 wasn't half bad as it turns out and those who have read my review will know I was more than just a little bit attracted to Statham's female nemesis in the film, but Transporter 3 feels a tad like stretching a clever idea just that little bit too far. Sometimes, it seems, three isn't always the magic number.

The film begins with Frank (The Transporter) chilling out with his friend, the French Inspector from the first two movies, in a boat doing a bit of fishing. These scenes are interspersed with flashes of a high-speed chase which is communicated to The Inspector via walkie-talkie; his best friend, Frank being the most obvious suspect for the driver of the pursued vehicle. This time however, Frank has an unqustionable alibi- the first time perhaps that he has ever been innocent of such wrong-doing.

Much later, relaxing in his home with a drink, Frank gets the chance to meet the driver of this vehicle when he crashes through the wall and into Frank's front room. It turns out that the driver is someone Frank put up for a job in his place after The Transporter turned it down. Now badly hurt, Frank calls his replacement an ambulance- but as soon as the driver is taken away from the car, the ambulance explodes. It turns out a bracelet attached around his wrist contained some kind of bomb connected to the car but before Frank can think about what this means, he himself is knocked out cold- only to wake up hours later with his own version of the exploding jewelry now adorning his wrist. Because his replacement failed in his task, Frank has been chosen to take his place. And this time his employers are unwilling to take a no for an answer.....

His task this time around is to transport a young Ukranian girl to an unspecified location and keep her safe. That all of this is heavily linked to a complicated plot concerning topical ecological issues and the question of what to do with potentially lethal toxic waste feels a little unnessecary- all you really need to know is that Statham is once again back in the driving seat and what you can expect is more stylishly choreographed fight scenes, plenty of exhibitionist macho car chases and a liberal dose of humourous one-liners from Staham's by-now very dry wit! Anyone who enjoyed the first two movies is bound by default to enjoy this too but the film is not without it's faults.

Firstly there is the fact that this, at times, feels very squarely aimed at a female audience; Statham gets his kit off on more than one occassion (which my brother-in-law's girlfriend saw very little to complain about) and yet his fairly fit Ukranian female passenger not once gives us blokes even a mere hint of nipple. Sexist?- Perhaps but it was enough for me feel a bit gratuitously cheated. Secondly, there is a real sense that producers this time around are trying to give the franchise a touch of credubility and the whole reason fans watch these movies is to escape such moral messages and heavy political issues and just tune into something about as filling, yet thousands of times more enjoyable, than a McDonald's Big Mac. We don't want to think, we just want to watch and we want to be thrilled, excited and, yes, just that little bit sexually stimulated. Maybe producers were trying to lower and even out the level of testosterone in the previous installment but they obviously have never heard of the saying don't fix what ain't broken!!

Thirdly and finally- the whole explosive bracelet plot device doesn't feel a million times removed from the hero-in-peril theme of fellow Statham movie, Crank, in which The Stathe plays Chav Chelios- an all round bad guy slowly dying from a poison injection. Which incidentally and not coincidentally has a sequel (and how did that happen-surely the climatic ending of the first film was pretty conclusively final??!!) recently released and at cinemas not that long ago....maybe this is supposed to be the thinking man's Crank 2? But if that isthe case then where is the thinking man's crumpet?
The girl playing the Ukranian girl thankfully gets few lines as her role is certainly less than memorable. As for the rest of the film, well it's a good 90 minute watch but don't expect too much for your money and don't expect much of the style featured in the first two flicks!

Summary: Frank finds himself on a job not of his choosing.....