Transporter 3

Jason Statham isn't a bad actor, but his physical and athletic attributes transcend his theatrical abilities, so he's a natural for testosterone-drenched action movies like the Luc Besson-originated Transporter series. In the latest installment, Frank Martin (Statham) is pressured into transporting a beautiful kidnapped Ukrainian girl named Valentina (Natalya Rudakova) across Europe from Marseilles to Odessa in his souped-up Audi. As an extra wrinkle, the villain of the piece (nasty-looking Robert Knepper) outfits Frank and Valentina with explosive bracelets that will detonate if they move more than 75 feet from his car. Along the way, Martin learns that the girl's father (Jeroen Krabbe) is a prominent “green” diplomat whose cooperation is needed by the villain's unscrupulous businessmen compatriots, who are hoping to skirt environmental regulations. Transporter 3 plays like all 12 episodes of a Saturday-matinee serial rolled into one, as life-threatening situations confront Martin with clockwork regularity. As is so often the case today, the fights and chases here are filmed so close up and edited so choppily that some of Statham's most impressive physical feats (the star performs many of his own stunts) barely register before the camera cuts to the next shot. Still, action fans willing to forgo logic or rationality in the plot will gobble up Olivier Megaton's Transporter 3 like a big bowl of greasy popcorn. Optional. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary by director Olivier Megaton, a 16-minute “making-of” featurette, a “Special Delivery: Transporters in the Real World” featurette (14 min.), three behind-the-scenes featurettes on storyboard (3 min.), visual effects (3 min.), and the sets (3 min.), and trailers. Also included is a bonus digital copy of the film. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a brainless but often entertaining threequel.] (E. Hulse)