Want to feel old? The Transporter 3, the final cinematic installment of Jason Statham's major action franchise to actually star him. came out 10 years ago, grossing $108 million internationally and beating his other major action properties Crank and The Mechanic by actually making it to a third installment. He's joined the Fast and Furious series since then, presumably for bigger paychecks, but has not had a higher subsequent gross as a solo action lead. In 2008, it felt like a comedown after The Transporter 2 went absurd and insane. But in 2018, out on 4K this week, it feels barely dated. In a John Wick world, Statham's Frank Martin could slide right in, and it'd be nice if he would.
The directing on the series had a pretty steady decline, from Cory Yuen to Louis Leterrier to Olivier Megaton. Yuen kept choreographing the fights, but Megaton and editors Camille Delamarre and Carlo Rizzo (the former of whom would direct the subsequent Statham-less installment) insist on such unnecessary cuts and flourishes that it doesn't look as good as it might in long takes. A new plot gimmick (proximity bomb) keeps Frank from leaving his car for long, but sadly that doesn't lead to more of the kind of nutso car-fu that the prior film had us enjoying. Rather than indulge the established craziness, Megaton seems more interested in making the movie into "James Bond, but in a car all the time." The script even explicitly has Frank break all of his established rules, caring little for what has gone before.
The one aspect that does carry over is a female lead who looks borderline inappropriately young for Statham, in this case newcomer Natalya Rudakova as Valentina, the latest "cargo" for our Transporter's inevitably suicidal mission that he'll somehow escape from. Their uncomfortable sex scene has maybe dated the most, with her essentially harassing him into it; it is at least a gender-reversal spin on Bond pressuring the ladies to do likewise. And it's Frank who steadily loses clothes in fights and gets objectified by Valentina.
Valentina is the MacGuffin in a plot that takes forever to reveal itself, probably because it's ultimately so simple that if it were explained upfront there'd be nothing left to talk about. Ahead of its time, the key crisis involves Ukraine and Russia, and the villain's love of a certain NBC reality show host circa '08 feels far more pointed now that said personality has gone on to bigger and more frightening things that also somehow involve Russia and Ukraine.
But while this was a somewhat disappointing threequel back in the day, it plays better in hindsight. The recasting of the role with Ed Skrein (in the movies) and Chris Vance (on cable TV) has only made us long for the days of Statham, and more favorable to all his turns in retrospect. And while it already looked great on the "Fully Loaded" Blu-ray (the extras for which all remain on this disc, including Megaton's commentary), it looks amazing now: the sun reflecting off the water in the intro actually hurt my eyes, while cell phone rings onscreen felt like they were going off around me, and every shaven pore on Statham's face stands out. Can I say his head appears more weirdly shaped than I remember, and is that because I see it in 4K now?
Jokes about Frank possibly being gay, or wanting his enemies to be disabled, maybe don't hold up super-well, but guys in suits trying to hurt one another rarely go out of style. And baddies trying to ruin the environment for profit are realer than ever, though nowadays it seems to take far less incentive than holding somebody's family hostage. In the best action sequence, because it's the most insane, Statham does crazy bicycle stunts trying to keep up with his stolen car, across rooftops, handrails, and right through the middle of an apparent sweatshop. Nothing else in the movie quite lives up to that, though it's fun to see Jeroen Krabbe again as an authority figure who may or may not do the right thing.
Best case, this 4K disc could help restart the franchise properly (non-Statham ways don't count!). Worst case, you get a great copy of a movie that fares far better as "Jason Statham's series finale" than it did as "another sequel not as good as the last one."
