Taste the Anticipation - Taken 2: Unrated Cut (2012)

Director: Olivier Megaton

Cast: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen, Rade Serbedzija, Leland Orser

Country: France / United States

Rating: Unrated

Run Time: 98 minutes

Taste the Anticipation is a series dedicated to reviewing films in anticipation of a newer up and coming release. Whether it a previous franchise installment, a forgotten film within a director's immense oveure, or a thematically similar venture, anything is fair game as long as it relates to a newer cinematic product of sorts that I am anticipating.

In anticipation of Taken 3, the supposed final entry in the franchise that launched Liam Neeson to action stardom, I have decided to revisit Taken 2. Even though I previously reviewed the film in January of 2014, I feel that I owe the film a revisit and a proper review. I said some things in that old review that don't represent the "me" of today. I claimed that Under Siege 2: Dark Territory was a bad sequel when I hadn't even seen the film! I was such a schmuck. I also don't feel that I properly conveyed my opinion about the film's pace and lack of excitement. Therefore, I have decided to re-review the film and give my two cents about Taken 2 once and for all.

Pierre Morel's original Taken was a critical and commercial hit that came out of nowhere. Action fans and non-action fans alike loved it and sang the film's praises. Nobody could have guessed that Liam Neeson would break out in such a big way after doing a simple Seagal-minded actioner, but he did. I still sing the film's praises to this day and consider it to be one of the 100 greatest action films ever made. If you would like to see my praises for the film, check out my review.

However, Taken 2 was not as well received. Even though the film was a bigger box office success, critics and non-action fans alike decried the film as a lazy sequel that failed to live up to its predecessor's charms. And while I agree with these critics that Taken 2 is no Taken, I still find the sequel to be an entertaining action film that pleases my action taste buds. Unfortunately, the film suffers from incoherent fight scenes, rapid cutting, and an all around lack of excitement or tension.

Some good father daughter bonding time.

Taken 2 opens what must be a few months after the events of Taken. Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) is closer than ever with his ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen) and his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) after saving her from sex traffickers in Paris (check out Taken if you missed out on all of the bloodshed). Bryan continues to include himself in Kim's life by teaching her how to drive and checking up on her while she makes out with her new boyfriend. One day, Lenore's current husband abandons her and Kim due to marital arguments. Therefore, Bryan offers for the two to join him in Istanbul, Turkey while he is on a security job. The two eventually join Bryan for a nice vacation and seem on their way to mending their old family back together.

Unfortunately, Bryan's past actions come to bite him in the butt. Murad (Rade Serbedzija) and a group of men related to the Albanians murdered in Taken want vengeance for the loss of their loved ones at the hands of Bryan Mills. Therefore, the men ambush Bryan and Lenore while on the streets of Istanbul. Before he and his wife are taken though, Bryan makes a phone call to Kim telling her how to help him escape his captors. It is than up to Kim to get Bryan's weapons to him and to locate him before he and Lenore are murdered.

I have heard several critics and people state that Taken 2 is a weak sequel because it shamelessly rehashes the original film's plot a-la The Hangover 2 or Die Hard 2: Die Harder. However, I personally disagree with this statement. While Taken takes place over three days as a father looks for his kidnapped daughter in crime ridden Paris, Taken 2 takes place over a few hours as a father has to escape his captors and work with his daughter in order to save his wife from men looking for vengeance on his past actions. Even though Bryan ultimately has to rescue someone he loves from evil men, the similarities end there. Taken 2 has far more differences with Taken than most people recognize. As far as sequels come, Taken 2 does exactly what a sequel should do. It builds upon the mythology of the original film, ups the stakes, and delivers bigger action set pieces.

Turkish Standoff

My main problem with Taken 2 is purely in its execution. For starters, the drama and tension in the film is nowhere near as tense or gripping as the happenings in Taken. There was a real sense of danger and excitement in Taken because Bryan was told he had only 72 hours to find his daughter before she disappeared forever. In Taken 2 however, Bryan spends half the movie escaping his captors and than the other half getting his wife back. Bryan also knows exactly where his loved one is this time around in contrast to his search for Kim in Taken. Even though the stakes are higher, Bryan shows no difficulty in dealing with the situation or his captors. Taken 2 fails to make its action proceedings or life or death situation exciting or engaging. The execution is formulaic and cheap.

The one scene in Taken 2 that most recalls Taken is when Bryan calls Kim before he is about to be taken himself. It's a nice reversal of the original film's famous phone call scene in which Kim calls Bryan before she is taken. However, I have a huge issue with this scene because Bryan calls Kim in the middle of a Mexican standoff with several gunmen. I don't understand why the gunmen stand there and let him make a call that gives his daughter the chance to save herself and Bryan as well. It baffles me that the gunmen don't shoot down Bryan or tell him to put the phone down. Instead, the gunmen stand there like idiots and allow Bryan to make a crucial phone call! This scene would have made more sense if Bryan was hiding and saw that the gunmen had a gun to Lenore's head. Therefore, Bryan would call Kim and inform her of his situation. He would than step out of hiding and surrender himself in order to keep his wife safe. This would make more sense because the gunmen would be unaware of Kim's advantage and believe that she would be vulnerable back at the hotel. Come on, Luc Besson, I just came up with this alternative right now.

However, Taken 2 gets to the hard hitting action much quicker than Taken, a whole 13 minutes quicker if I am correct. I applaud screenwriters Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen for remembering to re-establish the franchise's characters before throwing them into the hornet's nest. I also enjoy Besson and Kamen's decision to write an action film that forces the protagonist to deal with the consequences of their action's from the previous installment. Numerous action pictures and sequels showcase the hero kill countless enemies but never have to face the friends or families of the ones they killed (Death Wish series, The Transporter series, Under Siege series, etc). Therefore, it is nice to see Bryan Mills pay the price of his actions even though they were noble and righteous.

First Kimmy and now Lenny, oh boy.

Taken 2 also has the upper hand when it comes to color grading and lighting. The film looks far darker and grittier in comparison to Taken. And while I prefer the camera work and editing in the first Taken, the gritty colors and dirty sets of Taken 2 go along way for me by reinforcing the film's gritty tone. It's the same exact situation with another EuropaCorp franchise, the Transporter series. Even though The Transporter is visually bland and Transporter 2 is a visual overload of teal and orange, the final installment of Transporter 3 is beautifully lit with blues, blacks, and whites in order to match its filmic tone.

I love Bryan Mills with all of my heart. He's one of my favorite characters in any action film. There is nothing better than a family man who kicks ass and cares for those he loves. My favorite Bryan Mills moments in Taken 2 are the small meticulous beats that casual film goers will miss. I love how Bryan does the finish on his car at the car wash even though it is included with the purchase. I also love how Bryan shows up to Kim's house to teach her how to drive and stays seated in his car until exactly 2:00 P.M., thereby being exactly on time, not a minute earlier and not a minute later. These meticulous beats show that Besson and Kamen understand their character and refuse to make him a heartless killing machine. Neeson does a fine job in the role this go around. He brings all of his hard hitting skills and likable charms from Taken over to the sequel. Unfortunately, the film's action scenes are filmed so horribly that Neeson doesn't come off as awesome as he should. But we'll get to that in a minute.

Returning characters Kim, Lenore, and even Bryan's buddy Sam do a fine job in their roles. Kim is given far more screen time since she isn't taken this time. I especially admire how Besson and Kamen were able to utilize Kim's character to help her father out. Rade Serbedzija (Mission Impossible II) also does a fine job as Murad, the film's main baddie. Even though Murad is a sub-standard villain that we have seen a million times in action cinema, one cannot deny Serbedzija's skills as a screen villain. He looks and sounds the part so well. Serbedzija is notoriously type cast as villains in nearly every American film or television show that he appears in. But it's alright, because Rade is good in my book. I also like how the film puts a singular face to its antagonist instead of making numerous unnamed kidnappers and slavers the villain a-la Taken. It makes it easier for the audience to know who to hate and who to put a face to the film's villainy.

The signature Bryan Mills neck snap.

Even with its lack of tension, Taken 2 could have still been a solid action sequel a-la Under Siege 2: Dark Territory, Predator 2, Death Wish 2, Rambo: First Blood Part II, or Transporter 2 if its action scenes were actually awesome. The editing and photography is so bad in some sequences that the fight choreography is near impossible to make out. The first fight scene in which Bryan fights several of Murad's men with night sticks is shot with close ups that render the fight incoherent and sloppy. Punches, kicks, and beat downs also lack the same weight that they had in Taken. Every physical beat down seems weaker and slower due to the film's poor sound editing, rapid cutting, and shaky photography. In fact, I would say that the film has weaker choreography all around. You know something is wrong with your film when your protagonist appears weaker and slower after only one film.

Taken 2's action scenes also have an extreme lack of excitement or competent direction. For example, the film concludes with a large shootout between Bryan and Murad's henchmen at their hideout. I love the setting of the abandoned hotel and the concept of the action scene itself. However, the big finale lacks any forward motion or tension. As Bryan makes his way through the hotel, he takes out a few henchmen every 30 seconds or so. However, the sequence consistently pauses in between kills to show Bryan make his way through the hotel some more or to show Murad and his right hand man run away. Therefore, the sequence becomes a montage of violence instead of an exciting or tense action set piece to end the film on. The final boat shootout in Taken is exactly what this sequence should have been: tense, exciting, action packed, and thrilling.

But for all of my complaints about director Olivier Megaton's action scenes, there are still a few cool moments here and there. There's a really bad ass scene where Bryan walks into a room filled with Murad's henchmen and proceeds to gun them all down. When one of them kicks at Bryan, he catches the man's leg and repeatedly fires his gun into the man's foot! Ouch! There is also some pretty cool stunts during the film's car chase set piece. And even though I complained about the film's final gun fight, there are several bad ass kills and moments of violence in it to please even the pickiest of action fans like myself. 

My favorite screen shot in the film.

I also have to remind action fans out there that the Unrated Cut of Taken 2 is the way to go. The cut restores all blood and adds extra frames of violence cut from the tame PG-13 theatrical cut. Blame it on the M.P.A.A. or the studio's insistence on a bankable PG-13 product. But as always, I will only watch the unrated cut of Taken 1 and 2 from now on.

I am sad to report that Taken 2 does not beg repeat viewings like its excellent predecessor. The action scenes are lacking, the drama isn't as engaging, and the situation is neither tense or gripping. However, the film is a swift and entertaining actioner that occasionally delivers the goods and gives us Liam Neeson in prime ass kicking mode. It's just a shame that the film features such awful editing and photography. While I highly recommend Taken to all non-action fans, I can't say the same for Taken 2. Unless you love these characters, the franchise, or the genre, you are best off staying away from this subpar but entertaining sequel.

Rating: 6/10 - A mildly entertaining sequel that fails to match or surpass its excellent predecessor.

Franchise:

Taken (2008, dir. Pierre Morel)

Taken 2 (2012, dir. Olivier Megaton)

Taken 3 (2015, dir. Olivier Megaton)

Taken: Unrated Cut (2008) - Review

Director: Pierre Morel

Cast: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen, Leland Orser

Country: France

Rating: Unrated

Run Time: 93 minutes

In today's day and age of action cinema, bad ass action icons are no longer the money makers they used  to be. General audiences have drifted towards big budget special effects heavy properties like Transformers, The Avengers, and The Fast and Furious films. The old icons of the 80's no longer pull in box office dollars like they used too. Most of the new films of Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger don't even break even with their budgets. However, one French action film in 2008 seemed to prove that the action icon was not dead yet. Pierre Morel's Taken proved to be a huge hit with audiences as it made $226 million off of a measly $25 million budget.

Besides being a very dramatic, action packed, and body count heavy action film, Taken's key ingredient was star Liam Neeson. At the time of Taken's release, Liam Neeson was not typically known as an action star. Even though he had dabbled in action films like Darkman, Star Wars, and Rob Roy, those were just a few action films amongst Neeson's many dramas, romances, and comedies. But Taken seemed to sky rocket Neeson to action icon status. Since Taken, Neeson has starred in numerous action films including Unknown, Taken 2, The Grey, The A-Team, Non-Stop, Walk Among the Tombstones, and the eventual Taken 3. Liam Neeson helped make Taken a better film by bringing his kindness, charm, and Oscar nominated acting chops to a Steven Seagal / Jason Statham-esque action film produced and written by Luc Besson.

Neeson brings the pain in his breakout action film.

Taken has a fantastic and basic premise that attracts both general audiences and die hard action fans. Bryan Mills is an ex-CIA agent who has quit his job in order to live closer to his daughter. Due to his many years of service, Mills grew distant from his family and eventually lost both his daughter and his wife. Now all alone, Mills makes every effort to reconnect with his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) and his ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen).

When Bryan's daughter goes off to Paris with a friend for vacation, she is quickly kidnapped by sex traffickers. Mills than sets out to Paris to track down the men who took his daughter and rescue her before she is lost forever. In Byran's words, "I will burn down the Eiffel Tower if I have too!"

What works so well for Taken is that it has a basic father/daughter premise that immediately draws you in. No offense to Jason Statham and Steven Seagal, but Liam Neeson comes off better in a film like this because he is such a fantastic actor. Neeson brings an incredible warmth to this film that makes me cheer for him. I want Bryan to reconnect with his daughter so badly because he is a good hearted man who wants to make up for his past mistakes. The film takes this story one step further though by having Kim get kidnapped and sending Bryan on a plane to Paris to kick some major butt. Now the film is a story all about what a father will do to get his daughter back from cruel men. This is a premise that any action or non-action fan can get behind because we get to see a father beat down tons of henchmen and bad guys in the process of trying to rescue his poor daughter. Kudos to Luc Besson for crafting a basic yet engaging action premise.

A Good Day to Die Hard's Radivoje Bukvic fires a gun at Neeson.

Bryan Mills is one of the great cinematic action characters like Casey Ryback in the Under Siege series, James Bond in the James Bond series, Ethan Hunt in the Mission Impossible series, Indiana Jones in the Indiana Jones series, John McClane in the Die Hard series, or Paul Kersey in the Death Wish series. Mills has many great characteristics to him that make him a unique bad ass. I love Mills' meticulousness when it comes to wrapping a present for his daughter. He spends extra time pressing down on the paper to make sure that it wraps perfectly around the square box sized present. I also love Mills' sacrificial nature of quitting his job just so he can live near his daughter to make up for lost time. Neeson knows that he could be off helping the country and making money but chooses to reconcile with his family after so much damage and hurt. How can you not love this character?

It also helps that Bryan Mills is a certified bad ass. Liam Neeson did all of his own stunts for the film and it certainly shows. While the shootouts never reach a John Woo (Hard Boiled, The Killer) level of excellence and the fight scenes never reach a Yuen Woo Ping (Kill Bill, The Matrix) level of perfection, all of the action scenes are just impressive enough to wow any action fan. Neeson brings a hard hitting level of realism with his neck hitting, gun firing, and knife fighting skills. The action scenes aren't shot too terribly but they aren't majestic either.

It's worth noting that Liam Neeson doesn't kick any ass until 40 minutes into the film. I know that is a long wait for some but the dramatic build up makes it all worth it. Once Neeson hops in a taxi cab and starts beating the crap out of a human trafficking spotter, it's non-stop thrills from there. It's important to mention that you must watch the unrated cut (the original French cut to be exact) because the film contains far more violence, gun firing, and a more graphic torture scene. All of these additions push the film into the range of an "R" rating and distant it from its tame "PG-13" Bourne and Bond counterparts. While the film is not exactly "R" rated, the unrated cut restores enough numerous blood spurts and neck snaps to appease even the most hard core action fan.

Neeson guns down a lousy henchman.

There are two action scenes that really stand out to me in this film. The first is when Bryan Mills visits a house filled with sex traffickers. He plays it cool and pretends to be in control of a satellite that is watching the men and forces the men to pay him money in order for him to look the other way. After he has the men pay, he shows them a card that is written in Albanian. When he asks one of them to translate it, the man states, "Good luck." This is just how Mills heard an unknown kidnapper say "good luck" to him on the phone when his daughter was kidnapped. Neeson immediately smashes the man's head into the table and proceeds to kill every man in the house. It's an awesome action scene and makes great use of knives, human shields, and Neeson gunning down bastards dumb enough to take him on.

The other standout action scene is the big finale on the boat. Bryan tracks down his daughter's kidnappers to a large boat floating down a river in Paris. He works his way through the boat taking down as many henchmen as quietly as possible. However, he eventually has to break out the guns and a fantastic shootout ensues. There's some great stuntwork here. My favorite is when Neeson jumps over a couch and fires from below it to take out a guard. There's also a great action beat where Neeson grabs a guard's MP5 and turns it around and fires it through the door into the guard. The action choreographers and screenwriters of Taken were smart to incorporate various action scenes that range from a car chase in a construction sight, a fight scene in a house, a fist fight in a basement, and a shootout on a moving boat. This way, the action is never boring and no scene ever feels exhausting or tiresome.

The most infamous scene in the film is when Bryan picks up the phone and speaks to his daughter's captor. Liam Neeson delivers a chilling and bad ass monolouge that is one of the greatest lines in bad ass cinema. It's more like a paragraph than a one liner, but it's completely unforgettable. In the words of Neeson, "I will look for you. I will find you. And I will kill you."

These guys picked the wrong dad to mess with.

In today's day and age of lengthy films and over long run times, Taken is a breath of fresh air. Clocking in at only 90 minutes, Taken is incredibly brisk and will be over before you know it. I think that Taken is the last truly great EuropaCorp action film. Since Taken, EuropaCorp's quality output has drastically decreased. Their newer films (Transporter 3, From Paris With Love, Taken 2, Colombiana, Lock Out, 3 Days to Kill, etc) are usually low grade to middle grade action films that wish they were as fresh and exciting as older Luc Besson / EuropaCorp productions like Transporter 1 and 2, District B13, Taxi, and Unleashed.

I also have qualms with the fact that we don't see Bryan Mills save any prostitutes other than the ones that lead him to his daughter. Mills could at least alert the police to save these poor girls or to their whereabouts. This especially bugs me at the end of the film when Neeson finally reunites with his daughter on the boat. Even though all of the bad guys are dead and his daughter is in his arms, there are still two other captive girls whose fates are left unexplained. Did Neeson end up saving these girls or were their fates left unexplained due to the film's weak editing? Little things like this heavily affect the movie for me because the film took the time early on to show just how meticulous Bryan Mills is when he wraps a birthday present.

Neeson takes cover behind a poor car.

Even though Taken is not a perfect action film, it is an absolutely awesome one and one of the best contemporary mainstream action films I have seen. Taken is a lot like Die Hard because a lot of non-action fans love the film. This is mostly due to the relatable father / daughter aspect of the story. We don't have Bryan Mills' bad ass skills but we do have the love and care for our daughters and family the same way that Mills loves and cares for his daughter. I think Taken is an excellent screener for father's day if you ask me.

Taken is a solid action film that catapulted Neeson to action icon status overnight. The film benefits from engaging drama, good performances, solid action scenes, and a brisk run time. Neeson proves himself to be today's box office king as far as action icons come. I highly recommend the unrated cut of this film and hope that all action and non-action fans check the film out!

Rating: 9/10 - A rare mainstream action flick that is both fantastic and rewatchable.

Franchise:
Taken (2008, dir. Pierre Morel)
Taken 2 (2012, dir. Olivier Megaton)
Taken 3 (2015, dir. Olivier Megaton)

The Transporter Franchise Returning?

Well this is interesting news. After just having impulsed purchased and watched all of the Transporter films for the first time, Luc Besson and his EuropaCorp group are going to reboot the series and bring it back with a new actor and an origin story as well.

By the sounds of it, they want to call the next film Transporter 4 also. I don't understand the point of casting a new actor, calling it a reboot, but calling it Transporter 4 and than 5 or 6 if it performs well. Also, in the original Transporter films, Frank Martin says that he used to be in the Special Forces. I am going to assume that if they would touch on his origin story they would go here for story material? However, a guy in the army is the furthest thing from a Transporter story though.

Personally, I would love to see Transporter 4 come back and just have Jason Statham in the series again. That to me is the simple solution. However, since Statham is apparently bigger than ever now with franchises like Fast and Furious and Expendables to stick too, nabbing him for this seems unlikely.

I don't think the original three are really good enough for an origin story though. They are just dumb action movies. Sequels that showcase more dumb stories and awesome action seem like the most logical answer to me. Oh well, we'll see how they are.

The Transporter Trilogy - The Transporter (2002), Transporter 2 (2005), Transporter 3 (2008)

Frank Martin taking out the trash.

I'm a Transporter virgin to be honest. I love Jason Statham and I think that he brings his all to every film of his. I quite enjoy his roles in The Expendables, Snatch, and Safe. However, I have not seen the franchise that kick started his American fame. After $18 and a trip to Best Buy, all three films found their way into my Blu Ray collection. Don't you love impulse purchases?

To be honest, I don't think anything in this franchise is more awesome than each of the posters. He's jumping in the air with two guns! So awesome! Even though these are truly awful posters, the action junkie in me loves them. I wonder if he even jumps while using two guns in each of the films. I wonder if Statham did a photo shoot for each of these posters too?

Anyways, let's dive into this action packed trilogy and see if these films are truly any good. 

Director: Cory Yuen / Louis Leterrier

Starring: Jason Statham, Shu Qi, Francois Berleand, Matt Schulze, Ric Young

Country: France / United States

Rating: PG-13

Run Time: 92 minutes

I really thought this film was going to be pitch perfect. It's made from a dream team of action filmmakers: Cory Yuen (No Retreat, No Surrender 2), Pierre Morel (Taken), Louis Leterrier (Unleashed), Luc Besson (Leon: The Professional, The Fifth Element), and Jason Statham (The Mechanic, Safe). How could this not be incredible?! Unfortunately, The Transporter suffers from what the early Fast and Furious films suffer from: that lame early 2000's style and tone. There is unnecessary hip hop underscoring every scene, lousy CGI, and a need to inject lousy humor and sexuality into as many scenes as possible. Still, there is some stuff to love here, even if it means that you have to sit through some unbearable garbage.

Jason Statham plays Frank Martin, the one and only Transporter. He's an expert transporter with a car that can rotate license plates, martial arts skills that you don't want to mess with, and a soft spot for hot asian girls. While he normally transports anything with no questions asked, he accidentally discovers that his current package in his trunk is none other than a tied up woman, Lai (Shu Qui). Frank soon finds himself in hot water for taking a peek at his package and is nearly killed by a bomb, another package he was transporting. Frank and Lai find themselves hunted down by both the police and hit men as the two try to get to the bottom of everything.

Frank is the kind of role that Jason Statham was born to play. I love that he came back for this role two more times and turned this into a franchise. He gets to perform all kinds of physical feats in this film: car chases, fist fights, shootouts, you name it. This film has it all. Unfortunately, the film saves most of its action for the very end of the film. Because of this, the bulk of the first hour is filled with boring dialog between Frank, Lai, and an Inspector (Francois Berleand). There's all kinds of mind and word games between the three of them. And to be honest, it is all so exhausting to listen too. None of it was interesting really.

The lousy soundtrack is one of the film's worst offenses. Some of the emotional score and hip hop songs play during the worst moments. After a huge car chase, emotional music starts to play! Why is this scene scored like this? This is easily one of the worst scored action films I have ever seen. 

For all of my disappointment, I did enjoy some of this film. Like I said, Jason Statham is awesome. The highlight of the film for me came when Jason Statham kicks through a door and proceeds to destroy a bunch of thugs playing poker inside of a huge mansion. It's both a great shootout and a fantastic melee fight. It's definitely one of the coolest action scenes to come out of 2002. Unfortunately, this film fails because all of its various elements never blend into something feasible or cohesive. 

Rating: 6/10 - The Transporter suffers from a lousy soundtrack, awful chemistry, and a boring plot. A few good action scenes and Jason Statham's presence help save what is otherwise a forgetful film.

Director: Louis Leterrier

Starring: Jason Statham, Alessandro Gassman, Amber Veletta, Kate Nauta, Francois Berleand

Country: France/United States

Rating: PG-13

Run Time: 88 minutes

So much teal and orange. Did Michael Bay direct this movie? Anyways, Transporter 2 is a much better sequel to the disappointing first film. Even though Transporter 2 is just as trashy as silly as the first film, everything is amped up to ridiculous proportions. Luc Besson and friends realized that a Transporter film could be its best if they fully embraced the absurdities of the first film. Therefore, the film is able to have more fun with itself which in turn makes the viewing experience much more enjoyable. Nearly all of the same creative team from the first film returns as well.

This time around, Frank is now driving a young boy around for a rich family. Soon enough, that family becomes the target of some horrible people who want to use the rich father and his son as carriers of a deadly virus. I haven't seen an action film that used a deadly virus as its plot device in a long long time. Anyways, the best thing about this sequel is that it never takes itself too seriously. For example, Frank dispatches a bomb on the bottom of his car by hitting a ramp, flipping his car upside down, and scraping it off by hitting a crane! If that wasn't crazy enough, he even jumps onto a wave runner at one point, launches out of the water and onto the freeway, and than slides across the street towards a bus and jumps into the bus! Where were these crazy stunts in the first film?

Cory Yuen choreographs all of the action in this and does a darn good job. All of the fights are great, especially a garage fight near the end where Frank fights a load of thugs with pipes and axes. The music is also a big improvement, no more hip hop! Instead we get your typical film score and a hard rockin' but affective track that plays during the garage fight. All of the choreography and editing are perfect this go around.

Our villains this time are Gianna Chellini and Lola. Lola (Kate Nauta) is one of the most ridiculous right hand women I have ever seen in an action film. She is barely clothed at any one point in the film, even when in public! She carries around two silenced automatic guns too (see the poster). Lola's character provides the film with all of its unnecessary sexuality. If you thought the first film had some unnecessary sexuality, wait until you get a load of Lola. Keith David even pops up as a cop. But he disappears out of nowhere! Why was he even in this movie? The great Keith David is literally reduced to being a meaningless cameo.

The film also has some of the worst CGI I have ever seen. I don't know what was up with the green screen shots but they are horrible. They feel like they are from an animated film and not a live action film. At the end of the day though, these CGI shots only occur for a few seconds and aren't as massive a distraction as they could have been. What makes Transporter 2 work is that it fully embraces its absurdity and makes all of the action scenes as entertaining as possible. There is far more action in this film too. I could see myself rewatching this several times. It is just such a blast of an action film; even though it is pretty absurd and has a ridiculous plot.

Rating: 7/10 - Transporter 2 amps up the insanity and ridiculousness to new heights. In doing so, the film is far more enjoyable, action packed, and entertaining. 

Director: Olivier Megaton

Starring: Jason Statham, Robert Knepper, Francois Berleand, Natalya Rudakova, etc.

Country: France / United States

Rating: PG-13

Run Time: 104 minutes

We have finally arrived at the end of the Transporter Trilogy. Unfortunately, Transporter 3 is all boredom and no excitement. The film is also the longest of the three and has the least amount of action and interesting story as well. With horrible editing and a forced romantic subplot, Transporter 3 is truly the worst of the three.

The film's plot kicks into gear when a man's car comes crashing into Frank Martin's home. Frank soon finds himself knocked out and awakes inside of a small room. He is introduced to Johnson (Robert Knepper). Frank had recommended the driver of the crashed car to Johnson to transport a package. However, the man failed and chose to seek help from Frank. In doing so, the responsibility of transporting the package is placed upon Frank. Frank must also travel with Valentina (Natalya Rudakova), a woman who is actually the package. Johnson straps an explosive wrist band to Frank and Valentina's wrists. If the two ever get more than 80 feet from Frank's car, their wrist bands will explode.

What sounds like a great plot set up never fully delivers. Frank encounters several obstacles during his road trip and each one feels more boring than the previous. He goes from fighting thugs in a car shop, to running from an enemy car, to having to strip tease to get his keys back from Valentina. This film feels a lot like the first film because Frank is forced to stay with both his car and a female for the entirety of the film. Valentina is so annoying though. I never once really cared for her and found her to be a big nuisance to both Frank and the plot. I could be watching some cool action scene but instead I have to watch Frank strip tease for her right after they just pushed a car off of a cliff? Whatever.

The few action scenes that are there in the film are horribly edited as well. For some reason, the filmmakers thought it was a good choice to speed up some of the footage. This makes all of the fight and chase scenes nearly impossible to visually understand. Some fight scenes don't even have sound effects. The score is all you get in some parts. This rapid style of cutting and editing is a travesty. It's a shame because all of the action scenes have a good set up but lousy execution. 

I also enjoy Francois Berleand's cheesy Inspector character in all three films. He reminds me of Vincent Gardenia's "Frank Ocha" from the Death Wish films. He just keeps coming back in each film to remind you that someone else other than the lead character was in the previous films somewhere.

The film has three redeeming factors though. For starters, the film has a nice dark visual palette and color scheme consisting of many blues and blacks. I think the filmmakers finally nailed the look of a Transporter film after failing with the dull looking Transporter and the over the top teal and orange of Transporter 2. It's a shame that the visual style was nailed by the end of the trilogy though. And in the worst of the three Transporters too. Robert Knepper also does a fantastic job as the main villain. I have a biased love for Knepper from his stint on the flawed but memorable television show Prison Break. I truly think that Knepper brought a great presence to the film. He balances being both menacing and serious without ever becoming hammy or over the top a-la 1990's Gary Oldman.

And finally, I loved the set up of the film's final action scene. With Johnson, his goons, and Valentina all aboard a train, Frank has no choice but to drive his car on top of the train! It's an awesome sequence and it has to be seen to be believed. The film finally starts to embrace the absurdity that made Transporter 2 so memorable in this final action scene. Unfortunately, it is all too little too late to redeem an already boring action film.

Transporter 3 takes a turn for the serious while trying to balance both romantic tension and ridiculous action scenes. I think that Transporter 3 should have been more like Transporter 2. What helped make that film memorable was that it had non-stop action and played like a self-aware cartoon. Transporter 3 wants to be serious and gritty but have Frank flip his car on its side at the same time. Therefore, just like the first Transporter, Transporter 3 feels like a mixed bag that never amounts to anything worthwhile. It also suffers from being a real bore. Honestly, did anyone think watching Frank and Valentina talk about nonsense in a car for so many scenes would be interesting?

Rating: 5/10 - Transporter 3 is a dull contemporary action film that is truly only for die hard Jason Statham fans and genre fans.

Franchise:

The Transporter (dir. Cory Yuen / Louis Leterrier, 2002)

Transporter 2 (dir. Louis Leterrier, 2005)

Transporter 3 (dir. Olivier Megaton, 2008)

The Transporter Legacy (dir. Camille Delamarre, 2015)