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Transporter 3


5.3

based on 26 reviews
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How did we calculate this?

based on 17 votes
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FILM:

MPAA RATING: PG-13 for sequences of intense action and violence, some sexual content and drug material

Starring Jason Statham, Francois Berleand, Natalya Rudakova, Robert Knepper, Jeroen Krabbe, Alex Kobold, David Atrakchi, and Yann Sundberg

Frank Martin has been pressured into transporting Valentina, the kidnapped daughter of Leonid Vasilev, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency for the Ukraine, from Marseilles through Stuttgart and Budapest until he ends up in Odessa on the Black Sea. Along the way, with the help of Inspector Tarconi, Frank has to contend with the people who strong armed him to take the job, agents sent by Vasilev to intercept him, and the general non-cooperation of his passenger. Despite Valentina’s cynical disposition and his resistance to get involved, Frank and Valentina fall for each other, while escaping from one life-threatening situation after another. (Lionsgate)

GENRE(S):	Action
WRITTEN BY:	Luc Besson Robert Mark Kamen
DIRECTED BY:	Olivier Megaton
RELEASE DATE:	Theatrical: November 26, 2008
RUNNING TIME:	100 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	France

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

Statham isn't an actor who coasts, not even in a recklessly enjoyable picture like Transporter 3. He does the work, so we don't have to: His Frank Martin is the personification of pleasure without guilt.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

The villainous Polluter-in-Chief is eloquently played by Robert Knepper, familiarly loathsome as T-Bag on Fox's "Prison Break." And when Knepper and Statham get together, there's a fine showdown of grimaces.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

What makes it all work is that Frank remains a self-made hero.

Washington Post Mike Mayo

Overall, the production has the polish and pace that producer/co-writer Luc Besson's work is known for. Any complaints about the lack of substance are pointless.

Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall

The end result is "Mission: Impossible" meets "Speed": high-tech gizmos, exotic European locales, and hair-raising stunts, many performed by Statham himself, who, when he's not shirtless, looks spiffy in Dior.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

In a series elevated by high-flying ridiculousness, Transporter 3 falls a couple of sequences short of the standard, but it does show off Statham's considerable dirt-biking skills. For that, at least, it's kinda rad.

TV Guide Jeremy Wheeler

Though this third installment is not quite as nuts as the second film, it's nevertheless firmly set in the same ridiculous mold.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

A perfectly acceptable brainless action thriller.

Chicago Tribune Christopher Borrelli

The best sequences involve Frank's inventive ability to stay within 75 feet of his car, but otherwise, it's the charismatic unruffled dexterity in the face of impossible odds that rivets.

The New York Times Manohla Dargis

Though the car chases have grown more banal as the franchise has started to run on fumes, the smackdowns have retained their zing.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

As action movies seem to get more complicated and convoluted with international conspiracies and technological concepts, the "Transporter" franchise is refreshingly simple.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

Transporter 3 is so far over the top that it more than once spills into outright cartoonishness.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

If you're going to a no-frills action film, though, at least you want the action to be entertaining, which is where Transporter 3 falls down.

USA Today Claudia Puig

Somehow Statham comes out of this improbable thriller with his dignity intact.

Variety John Anderson

Boasts a measure of the retro machismo, style and attitude some 007 fans have found lacking in "Quantum of Solace." But it also has a pointless storyline, incoherent editing and a polyglot cast that renders some of the dialogue utterly incomprehensible.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Transporter 3 is the most frustrating entry into a series that has never set the bar terribly high.

Portland Oregonian Marc Mohan

For those disappointed in the grim, gritty feel of the latest James Bond movie and who long for the absurdity of the Roger Moore-era entries, Transporter 3, ought to fit the bill.

Village Voice Jim Ridley

The movie has more lags in action than either of the previous episodes, and somehow the dialogue is even more daft

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

Statham could do these movies in his sleep by now, so he gets credit for offering up so much dry wit. In fact, while Rudakova makes a painful acting debut, Statham appears more engaged than he has in a while.

Empire Chris Hewitt

Incoherent and inconsistent, this is a step back for Statham in his quest to become more than a cult figure.

Film Threat Michael Ferraro

The film does contain a couple of interesting thrills here and there. However, this film would have been better off thrown straight to DVD.

New York Post Kyle Smith

Transporter 3 is made for airplane viewing, and not just any airplane: an Eastern European one, on the flight from Hrubbishnik to Slutnya.

Philadelphia Inquirer David Hiltbrand

At one point, Statham chases down a sports car while pedaling madly on a kids' bike. Pathétique!

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

The thrill of the ridiculousness is gone. So is all the mystery that made Statham so appealing in the first place.

The Hollywood Reporter Michael Rechtshaffen

Easily the worst in a trilogy that has been notable mainly for the presence of its everyman action star, Transporter 3 is a nonsensical, choppily edited bore, with awful dialogue.

San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub

The fight scenes are lackluster and the plot is needlessly complicated. If you're making an action film that centers on fast cars and fast women, it's usually best to keep the rest of the story simple.

The average user rating for this movie is 5.3 (out of 10) based on 17 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Don M. gave it a1:
Watching this movie in a theatre was one of the few times I've experienced the urge to get up and leave half an hour into the feature. I wasn't alone on this; a few people in the theatre actually left, and the friend of mine who came with me had leaned over and said "hey man, we should just go and play Forza or something". I'm as big a Jason Statham fan as the next guy, but this was just plain BAD. A reviewer had said the plot was "needlessly complicated?" That's insane. If anything, some complexity could have turned this movie from bargain bin to 2/$25. The 'villian', who was somewhat overacted by Robert Knepper, wasn't clever. At all. This should be a crime. The 'love interest', who was incredibly and sulkily underacted by Natalya Rudakova, wasn't even cleverly vapid, but just plain stupid. The entire time I was watching the "sexually tense" interactions between Statham and Rudakova, I felt like i was watching a thirteen year old hit on her dad. On top of that, her character's shallowness was only overshadowed by how poorly the role was acted. (She also suffers from a strange condition in which she's not overly attractive until she puts on her "i want to S your D" face.) It would have also been in the best interests of the writers to not attempt to invent a new James Bond. Frank Martin's line of work and personality are apt for him to, ironically, never have a real personality. The role works as a steeped-in-mystery-with-no-personal-details affair, but he shows too much weakness all of a sudden for this movie to work well. It was such a boring, contrived shell of what could have been something somewhat compelling, even if it IS 'just an action movie'. As the ending drew near and the plot became more and more transparent and predictable, I still rolled my eyes at the "saved by inflating a dufflebag with tire air underwater" and "jump an Audi S6 onto the roof of a moving traincar." I gave it a 1/10 simply because even though the Tarconi character was as badly scripted as the rest, François Berléand is still funny by default (except the line "Russians.. they're always so dark."This made me want to destroy the one person in the theatre who laughed at it).

Oliver H. gave it a2:
This is one of the worst films I've ever seen. I went because of the relatively high metacritic rating, but it is an absolute stinker. In my opinion, anyone who loved the original will detest this third installment. I would go into detail about which aspects of the film were the least pleasing, but there simply is nothing to compliment regarding this "work". Please do yourself a favor, and avoid this movie at all costs.

k l gave it a0:
Terrible. stopped watching after 20 mins.

Chavo G. gave it a10:
Pure gold.

Susdar V. gave it a7:
Overall a good entertaining action flick, liked it better than transporter1 & 2.

Chris R. gave it a5:
It's rare for me ever to review a movie but this one definitely is worth reviewing. Simply stated, this movie is a let-down for the series. First, the plot didn't flow well. Also the dialogue was quite subpar. Though the love interest in the movie is not a very good actress, she was the only thing that held my attention other than the three good action scenes. Imo, I'd wait for the DVD.

Matt F. gave it a0:
EPIC. FAIL. Seriously, one of the worst movies I have seen in my life. The CG was awful, the dialogue was AWFUL, and the action scenes (especially anything with cars involved) were laughably unrealistic. You know a movie is terrible when they have to fast forward the car chase to make it more exciting.