MOVIE REVIEWS
The Transporter 2
Amichai Greene
I'll come right out and say it, this is a completely ridiculous film and I can't remember when I had more fun at the movies. With its outright defiance of gravity and common sense the story and action trots along at a brisk pace and delivers the sort of eye candy action we've come to expect from a script by Luc Besson. And if you haven't seen the Transporter part one, don't worry; the only thing connecting the two films is the actor in the lead role.
Jason Stratham plays Frank Martin, the world's best driver and UPS man for all things not quite legal. He starts off taking a break from his notorious underworld activities to provide, what else, transportation to a rich little boy to and from school (apparently the school bus is something only poor kids take). As a fill in for the regular driver (one can wonder how the regular chauffeur is associated with such a disreputable character, but if that's the kind of stuff you think about you shouldn't see this movie) Frank bonds with the little boy and his very attractive mother. With out spending to much time discussing the threadbare plot, suffice to say that the little boy is kidnapped and it's up to Frank to save him.
But the plot is only secondary to the action sequences, which honestly is the reason you go to see this sort of film in the first place. Amongst the many difficulties Frank must over come to save the boy: A sexy psychotic killer who seems to hate wearing clothes, a Latin gentleman who has dreams of killing all drug enforcement officials, a cadre of stuntmen to get in his way, and a series of explosions that would kill a lesser man (say James Bond).
Stratham proves himself as an action hero flawlessly cutting though all his obstacles all the while keeping his tie straight and his shirt unwrinkled. The marital art combat is fun like it should be; not in that horrid pretentious Matrix sort of way, which so many other movie makers are now parroting. Sure Frank might fall out of a third story window onto a taxi cab, and sure he might get off the cab with only a small cut on his forehead, but I didn't mind because he still needed to get the antidote to save kidnapped and now poisoned little boy.
The movie is silly, outrageously over the top, and extraordinarily fun. It's a testament to the fact that the Stallone/Schwarzenegger action films of the eighties aren't dead, they've just evolved into something slicker, something better. If you are interested in a smart thought provoking film, this isn't for you. If you like loud explosions and cool martial arts by an equally cool lead role, then this is definitely the movie for you. Don't expect it all to make sense, just expect to have fun. And don't say I didn't warn you.
