Action heroes 101

There was a time in cinematic history when men with little acting ability and a barely decent grip on the English language could produce successful films, based solely on their impressive physique and admirable fighting skills. This age heralded the birth of the action hero, and while we will never forget it, we must be inclined to welcome a new age. Ever since Jackie Chan’s immortal “Rumble in the Bronx” and the Wachowski Brothers’ “The Matrix,” action heroes are now bound by a tighter set of rules. Luckily, lead character Frank Martin has always been a stickler for the rules. And in “The Transporter 2,” he shows us exactly why.

From the first minute to the very last of this big-bang action movie, punches fly as hard and as fast as bullets. While the movie doesn’t do anything to break the mold of the current John Woo/ Michael Bay trend, it does effectively demonstrate why the rules are written the way that they are.?

Rule number one: Better acting makes better action. It’s true. Pierce Brosnan knows it, Jet Li knows it and, after “XXX,” Vin Diesel had better know it. Jason Statham has shown remarkable ability in less active roles such as “Snatch” and “Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels.” So as an eccentric driver who is almost obsessive about neatness, he brings a much-needed sense of honesty to the role. Unfortunately, the amount of action in “The Transporter 2″ strips some of the luster from his performance. Unlike the first film, which lingered in Martin’s private life before launching him into dire straights, in this film the hits just keep on rolling. Some argue that action movies are better with more action and less conversation, but I like a breather every now and then.?

Rule number two: Dance, don’t fight. Bruce Lee and Jean Claude Van Damme were known for creating the traditional fight scene. Other than the kung-fu sound effects and the exaggerated sell, these fights were close echoes of their true-life counter parts. But it wasn’t until Jackie Chan began carefully orchestrating every move to create an acrobatic dance that audiences discovered how much fun breaking bones could be. “The Transporter 2″ displays some impeccable choreography and original fight scenes that are just as exciting, if not more, than their predecessors. In the fight scenes, the actors use watermelons as boxing gloves and a fire hose for some intense wire work, just to name a couple of examples.?

Rule number three: Always raise the stakes in the sequel. Whereas the original, “The Transporter,” revolved around saving a cartload of people being shipped off to slavery, “The Transporter 2″ ups the ante by threatening that a virus is loose on the streets of Miami. Beginning with the kidnapping of a child Martin is driving back and forth to school for a friend, the plot gradually thickens to include the attempted assassinations of a group of high-powered corporate officials. Martin finds himself accused of the child’s kidnapping and caught in the middle of the scheme.

Adhering strictly to these rules, Statham proves to be a great action hero. But in Hollywood, rules are made to be broken. You won’t find anything revolutionary or new from Martin’s heroic exploits. I would also argue that this sequel lacks the small directing details that made Cory Yuen’s film stand out in the first place. For example, the music in the first film was a stark contrast to the action sequences and gave the film a spark that’s missing in the sequel. Louis Leterrier, who takes Cory Yuen’s directing seat here, seems to have graduated from the Michael Bay school of filming, which means that all plot holes can be answered by really big explosions, and usually are. In spite of its few flaws, “The Transporter 2″ gets three paws out of five for proving that America still has a need for senseless violence and gun-wielding on-screen mayhem, just as long as it follows the rules.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 16 2005. Filed under Other. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry