Review of The Transporter (2002)

The Transporter is about a man named Frank whose job it is to transport things. He lives his life by following rules designed to get him out of trouble. It is clear early on that many of his clients are criminals. However, he is professional and does not pass moral judgment.

One day however he breaks one of his rules. He looks inside a package in the trunk of his car to find a woman named Lai. By breaking his rules, he spirals into trouble.

It's interesting to see people torn between professional conduct and moral conduct, as it is a decision we all have to make, and different people will make different decisions.

As a criticism, the movie's fight sequences seem too choreographed. Frank's fighting style is not smooth and flowing but rigid and sequential.

The damsel in distress Lai is very attractive, and sometimes I wonder whether this sends the message that only beautiful women deserve to be saved.

The movie concerns smuggling of people from Japan to Europe, presumably France. At the end we learn that the refugees seem to respond to Japanese. Since refugees tend to flee from poor and unfree countries to rich and free country, what just doesn't seem right is why Japanese people would be smuggled to Europe. Japan's per capita GDP is higher than most European countries' per capita GDP.

This movie comes from Luc Besson the maker of The Professional, one of the best movies I've seen. In fact The Professional and The Transporter are two very similar movies. While The Transporter is about a professional transporter who falls in love with a woman he is supposed to transport, The Professional is about a professional assassin who falls in love with a 12-year-old girl.