Strong-armed into transporting the kidnapped daughter of the head of the Environmental Agency for the Ukraine from Marseilles to Odessa, skilled wheelman Frank Martin (Jason Statham) enlists the aid of Inspector Tarconi (François Berléand) in accomplishing the treacherous assignment in this action-packed installment of the popular action series produced by Luc Besson (who also co-scripts). Frank isn't exactly thrilled with his latest assignment, but when his employer turns up the pressure, he
has little choice but to deliver. His cargo is a feisty young girl named Valentina (Natalya Rudakova) -- who just happens to be the daughter of Leonid Vasilev (Jeroen Krabbé), the powerful top dog of the Ukraine EPA. Now, as Frank makes his way through Stuttgart and Budapest on the road to the Black Sea, Vasilev's men besiege his car from all sides, and his cynical young passenger gets a bad case of Stockholm Syndrome. As the driver and his cargo grow increasingly close, they both realize that making even a single mistake could cost them dearly. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
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.
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.
Usually stuff like this gets mercifully relegated to the 2 A.M. slot on HBO next to most recent Steven Seagal masterpiece. But The Transporter series has managed to gather enough of an audience for Lionsgate to inflict it on us every so often.
A preposterous, over the top and entertaining return of Frank Martin, the courier who delivers anything without question. Forget the ludicrous plot and just sit back and enjoy the fight and driving sequences.
Though director Olivier Megaton exhibits a good bit of that annoyingly jagged editing that's become all the rage in action films, he has the good sense to never cut away from Statham's pecs.
The good thing about Transporter 3 is that you know exactly what to expect. There's reluctant hero Jason Statham, a deadly villain, exotic European locations, car chases, hot action and .. of course there's a girl
Transporter 3 looses much of it's charm for taking itself a little too seriously. Also, Natalya Rudakova is really annoying. Nice to see François Berléand back again and Robert Knepper makes for quite a good bad guy but the only thing I really got out of this film is an answer to a question I've been asking myself
recently; What ever happened to Jeroen Krabbé?
I didn't expect much at all, except some good fight scenes, a loose plot and action. It delivered. If you have seen the first two films, you know what to expect. It's more of the same.
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