The Transporter (2002)
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A highly skilled mercenary driver in southern France becomes entangled in a dangerous human trafficking plot.
The story
Frank Martin, a former highly decorated special operations soldier, is a highly skilled driver for illicit jobs in southern France who follows three strict rules: never change the deal, no names, and never open the package. While working as a getaway driver for bank robbers in Nice, he refuses to drive until they abandon an extra man. Later, he is hired to deliver a package to Darren "Wall Street" Bettencourt. However, he discovers the package is actually a bound, gagged woman. After a bomb in a subsequent delivery kills his client, Frank seeks revenge and becomes involved in a larger conspiracy.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Frank Martin, a mercenary driver in southern France, operates under three strict rules: never change the deal, no names, and never open the package. After a bank robbery job goes wrong, he is hired by Darren "Wall Street" Bettencourt to deliver a package that turns out to be a bound woman named Lai. After a bomb kills Bettencourt, Frank takes Lai to his home. They eventually team up to take down Wall Street, who is revealed to be a human trafficker working with Lai's father, Mr. Kwai. After a series of high-octane chases involving motorcycles, airplanes, and trucks, Frank is captured by Kwai. In the climax, Lai shoots her father to save Frank as the police rescue other victims from shipping containers.
- Original title
- Le Transporteur
- First release year
- 2002
- Runtime (minutes)
- 92
- Production countries
- France; United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Louis Leterrier; Corey Yuen
- Writers
- Luc Besson · screenplay; Robert Mark Kamen · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Jason Statham · Frank Martin; Shu Qi · Lai Kwai; François Berléand · Inspector Tarconi; Matt Schulze · Darren "Wall Street" Bettencourt; Ric Young · Mr. Kwai; Adrian Dearnell · Newscaster
- Genres
- action; thriller; crime
- Themes
- revenge; human trafficking; organized crime
- Tone and mood
- action-packed; tense
- Premise and plot tags
- mercenary driver; human trafficking; revenge; action thriller
- Source material / true-story basis
- The Hire short film series by BMW
- Franchise connections
- Transporter
- Content notes
- violence
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the action sequences and Jason Statham's performance, though some felt it lacked coherent storytelling.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 53% · review count: 125; Metacritic · score: 51 · scale: 100 · review count: 27; CinemaScore · score: B+ · scale: A+ to F
- Production trivia
- The film was inspired by the BMW promotional short film series 'The Hire'.; Director Louis Leterrier originally intended for the character Frank Martin to be gay, but this was dropped during filming.; Shu Qi had to learn most of her lines phonetically as she spoke almost no English when she was cast.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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