Film Review - Transporter 2

An Escapist Ride
By: Rianne Hill Soriano

Starring: Jason Statham, Alessandro Gassman, Amber Valletta, Kate Nauta, Matthew Modine Directed by: Louis Leterrier

Official Movie Site

Transporter 2 maintains the typical formula: good guy chasing the bad guys. Its B-movie plot twists are an assemblage of action-sequel clichés that seemingly endorses the car brand Audi. Frank Martin’s (Jason Statham) monosyllabic intensity as the usual understated hero moves around in fierce car chases and impossible martial arts sequences. But somehow, such won’t stop the movie from being absurdly pleasurable by suspending those disbeliefs for a 1 ½ hour escapist action ride.

The opening scene plays like a commercial for the Audi – taking full advantage of the all-wheel drive as it survives countless incredible stunts. The car is so sturdy that after crashing and jumping from one building to another, not even a scratch can be seen on it. If James Bond had chosen to be a chauffer, he would have been the transporter riding an Audi.

Frank fills in as the driver and bodyguard for the boy named Jack Billings (Hunter Clary), son of a powerful US official. The kid is kidnapped in a bizarre scheme and gets recovered so quickly. It turns out that his father’s campaign against drugs rebounds to his family and soon the entire citizenry courtesy of Gianni (Alessandro Gassman), a member of a South American drug cartel. The kidnapping issue is just the take-off for the actual retaliation of the group.

In the scene where Frank sees the reflection of a bomb under his car from a pool of liquid and disarming it by going to an incline, spinning the car neatly in mid air and letting the bomb be pulled off by a hook on a crane to finally land safely, is completely ludicrous. Other stunts and computer-generated effects are equally impossible. He ingeniously uses a fire hose to pin down the bad boys like how we see it in the cartoons. He flies a jet ski onto a highway and jumps from it into the back of a school bus. He and his Audi get speedway chases all over the place and he breaks away from the enemies and the cops without any dirt, blood, bruise, nor a bump or scratch on the car. He escapes a plane crash and finally proves his heroic acts after being accounted for as a criminal on the loose.

Jason Statham performs an effective role of having a silent charisma as Frank Martin. This makes up his taciturn personality of being a man whose emotions seems so well under control all the time. Alessandro Gassman is a sexy villain. Matthew Modine effectively plays the role of a bureaucrat. So does Amber Valetta as a suffering wife and a loving mom. Kate Nauta plays a violent vixen who has a fetish in mercilessly killing with her two big toys and countless bullets and getting the high on her smudged eye make-up. Francois Berleand comes to terms as a comic relief and a sort of an accomplice for Frank.

The director delivers action fast-paced. But the suspense is minimal. There are pleasurable shots of Miami. But the stunts are too outrageous almost all the time that you lose the enjoyment for the sights and scenes. The b-movie elements are considerably fine for the usual expectations for such but there are too many actions that there are no pauses to let you catch your breath. There are too many spectacles that you come to the point of not appreciating the efforts of the special effects department anymore. But weirdly though, it lacks the suspense to pump up the blood in your veins. It seems like things are exposed and resolved rather too easily.

If you’re looking for a believable plot, Transporter 2 is too far an outlandish, over-the-top flick. If you’re good in physics, you might just contest the lessons on momentum and dynamics. The movie is a mindless escapism piece of visual work that has some unclear expositions and stunt concepts that are very much implausible. But despite the serious flaws and plot issues, the movie is fun and silly on its antics – that is, if you ignore the impossible stunts. In that case, just enjoy the ride.