Introduction Somehow I confused Transporter 3 for Transformers 3 (later realized that Transformers 2 was the movie that was recently released in that series and the third part is at least a couple of years away) and ended up with a DVD of this movie. Generally I do not prefer to start watching a series from one of sequels, but in this case it did not make much difference.
Plot Frank Martin (Jason Stathom) is a professional transporter who transports things without asking any questions. This time the package that Frank get’s is a girl Valentina (Natalya Rudakova), the kidnapped daughter of Leonid Vasilev (Jeroen Krabbe) who is the head of the Environmental Protection Agency for Ukraine. This time though both Frank and Valentina have device attached to them which will explode if they go more than 75 feet away from the car.
As Frank is forced into this task, he wants to get out of it and approaches his old friend Inspector Tarconi (Francois Berleand) to help him out. Meanwhile, Leonid is being blackmailed by a group to permit their ships containing environmentally hazardous stuff to dock at the Ukranian port. Does Frank escape from this plot? Can Leonid get his daughter back without submitting to blackmail? Check out this action movie for the details.
Critic’s Viewpoint While watching the movie I had a vague feeling that I was watching a poor man’s Bond movie (Of course, I had not seen Quantum of Solace by then). There was a mission, there was a fantastic car, and there were some gadgets, some action, and (almost) a Russian girl.
Though the action sequences were more or less routine, I liked the one scene where Jason does a strip tease while fighting. But then he seemed quite intent on stripping himself at every possible chance and it became a bit tedious. Acting wise there was not much for Jason as there were not too many dialogs and all he had do over the full movie was to retain a grim face without any emotions. Natalya Rudakova again had very little to do by way of acting. The little bit that she did was at times ridiculous especially the scene where she decides to answer nature’s call in a mall at a petrol pump.
Again Jeroen Krabbe as Leonid Vasilev hardly looked like a Ukranian minister and definitely did not look like Natalya’s father. One bright spot on the performances front was the performance of Francois Berleand. His laid back portrayal of Inspector Tarconi was interesting and he featured in some of the more interesting moments in the movie. Overall the cast selection and performance was just about average.
There is not much to write home about the plot. It is just a wafer thin plot and is more or less just a ride in the car and then bang bang action and then another ride and then another bang bang. Director Olivier Megaton has kept up a fast pace to the story, except for one very tedious and long love scene between Jason and Natalya which was completely a misfit in the movie plot.
Summary Overall it is an average action movie with very little novelty. I would give this movie an average 3 star rating.
PS: Taken from my review published earlier at http://www.epinions.com/review/Transporter_3_Olivier_Megaton/content_489013677700