The Transporter 2

As a follow-up to my review of the movie The Transporter, here are some words on the sequel, Transporter 2. Having seen the first one I knew what to expect and what not to expect, which is truly a good thing. Despite the title and concept of the movie(s) this is not a good "driving" movie. This is a standard Hollywood action flick. The hero of the story is pretty much a James Bond clone. Spoilers may follow:

As the movie starts we get to know our hero Frank again. This time around he's softened up slightly. He's been employed by rich people to drive their son to school. The movie goes on and introduces us to the villains. They're quite scruffy fellows, and they speak in broken english with russian accents. This clearly makes them the bad guys. They talked about a venom and an antidote. To portray these items were some quite flashy and cliché colored vials.

Reoccuring in this movie is the seemingly sharp french cop from the first movie, though he's quickly demoted to a comical relief. However, he is also used for the story's progression. He conjures the villains' names and addresses out of nothing, as the producers apparently were in a rush to get on with the action sequences, meaning they cut short the logical progression. The viewer is left with an impression of a rushed job. This also concerns the ending. Due to the horrible Hollywood-physics in this movie they were able to finish the movie easily in a way that isn't at all close to how the real world works. This might be the case for many movies, of course, but the way they did it here was just too easy.

This movie relies heavily upon action scenes. The car/vehicle chases, unfortunately, are way too obviously based on the already mentioned Hollywood-physics. The stunts are simply impossible, the viewer won't buy it. Most of the action sequences, however, are fights. Luckily, the fight scenes are very entertaining. Frank is like a Jackie Chan clone, and some of the villains even bring swords to the fight. Some of the fight scenes are somewhat ruined by gimmicks and impossibilities, but they still entertain.

What's left? The token Femme Fatale.
In the case of Transporter 2, that character is Lola. She's a shallow character designed to be homicidal, clearly insane and sexy. She runs around in what seems to be a white bikini (which does get wet) and later just a blanket. Was that supposed to save the movie?


If you're going to see this movie, make sure to bring the popcorn. This is a true popcorn movie.