In my ongoing preaches of motion picture protagonists who play the role of the superhero or the dedicated hero, "The Transporter" gives a perfect example of the superhero.

A French made film in English language, this low budget action picture does its best to redefine the impossible as far as physics are concerned. The story follows Frank, a courier for some shady customers, well reputed for being all business and no questions.

A former special forces military man (the all are, right?), Frank soon breaks his own rules of professionalism when he opens his trunk to change a flat tire and finds his latest client's "package" is in fact a 110 lbs Asian girl.

Eventually his clients attempt to kill him, and the girl escapes and hides with him, until the bad guys torch his home, then while they're on the run the have sex, until Frank discovers a boat of Asian slaves is on its way, but the girl's father runs the company importing and selling them, and there is an inspector on Frank's trail and eventually Frank gets wrapped up in one huge chase/showdown at the end.

So what do we learn? Good people will always do the right thing…I guess. Frankly, the message of this story is clouded like a Samuel Beckett stageplay, if existent at all.

The picture immediately begins with an impossible car chase after a bank robbery. Frank is hired as the get away driver and does amazingly well, setting up his talent for extreme driving.

As the picture progresses, it becomes obvious it is completely about firing guns and crashing cars with Frank as our luckier than shit, split second superhero. On more than one occasion, we find him jumping through windows and fall from high altitudes, but somehow he never seems to get a scratch on him.

Now I'll accept that he was a highly trained military man, but I'm sorry, flesh is flesh, and flesh tears well it's thrown through a window. It bruises after a long fall. It burns when a missile is blasted into your home and you're caught in the blast for a few seconds. Just cause he's highly trained, doesn't mean he's above these inevitables.

However, the good thing about this movie is the final sequences of fighting between Frank and apparently everyone in the European underground were extremely well choreographed and highly enjoyable to watch.

Jason Statham (The Italian Job) plays the Transporter with a whispery presence that becomes annoying when he's not on the job. The picture was directed by French film director Louis Leterrier and Hong Kong director Corey Yuen. However, it was written and produced by Luc Besson who has been extremely busy with 17 different projects for both European and international release, including the upcoming "Taxi" and, yes, "The Transporter 2." He gained much popularity after writing and directing "Léon aka The Professional" and following with the American made "The Fifth Element."

One other aspect of "The Transporter" I did enjoy was the cinematography, at the hands of DP Pierre Morel. Originally shot on HD Video and transferred to film, the picture is truly well painted.

Benn - Where's the Humanity?