Transporter 2 (2005)
Transporter 2 is an English-language French 2005 action-thriller film directed by Louis Leterrier. Written by Robert Mark Kamen and co-producer Luc Besson, it is the sequel to The Transporter (2002), as well as the second installment of Transporter trilogy. The film stars Jason Statham, Alessandro Gassman, Amber Valletta, Kate Nauta, François Berléand, Matthew Modine, and Jason Flemyng. Both Statham and Berléand reprise their roles as Frank Martin and Inspector Tarconi, respectively. In the story, Frank chauffeurs a young boy from Miami, Florida, who is soon kidnapped and tries to rescue him. The film was followed by Transporter 3 which was released in 2008.
Plot.
Frank Martin has relocated from southern France to Miami, Florida. As a favor to a friend, he becomes a temporary chauffeur for the wealthy Billings family. The marriage of Jefferson and Audrey Billings is under great strain due to the demands of the husband’s high-profile government job. Frank bonds with their son, Jack, whom he drives to and from elementary school in his new Audi A8 W12. Later, a somewhat drunk Audrey shows up at Frank’s home and tries to seduce him, but he tactfully sends her home. Frank prepares for the arrival of Inspector Tarconi, his detective friend from France, who has come to spend his holiday in Florida with Frank. When Frank takes Jack for a medical checkup, he realizes barely in time that impostors have killed, and masqueraded as, the doctor and receptionist.
A lengthy fight erupts between thugs, led by Lola, and the unarmed Frank; Frank manages to escape with Jack. Just as they arrive at Jack’s house, he receives a phone call, informing him that he and Jack are in the sights of a sniper capable of penetrating the car’s bulletproof glass. Forced at gunpoint to let Lola into the car, Frank speeds away with Jack, evading many pursuing police cars.
They arrive at a warehouse, where Frank meets Gianni Chellini, the ringleader of the operation. Frank is ordered to leave without Jack. He discovers an explosive attached to the car and succeeds in removing it a split-second prior to detonation. Jack is returned to his family after the payment of a ransom, but unknown to them and Frank, Jack has been injected with a deadly virus that will eventually kill anyone whom the child breathes on.
Suspected by everyone except Audrey of being one of the kidnappers, Frank tracks down the remaining fake doctor, Dimitri, with Tarconi’s assistance. Frank infects Dimitri with the same virus, then lets him escape. Dimitri panics and hurries to a lab to get the cure, with Frank following behind. In his panic, Dimitri kills Tipov, another of Gianni’s men, in his attempt to force the scientist in charge of the lab to give him the cure. Frank arrives and kills first another henchman, then Dimitri (after revealing that Dimitri was not infected after all); but when Frank refuses to bargain with him, the scientist hurls the only two vials containing the antidote out of the window into traffic. Frank manages to retrieve only one vial intact. Frank sneaks back into the Billings home and tells an already ailing Audrey what is happening.
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Reception.
Transporter 2 opened in the United States on 2 September 2005. During its opening weekend, the film grossed $16 million in the U.S. In total, it earned $43 million in the U.S. and $85 million worldwide. The film received mixed reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a score of 52% based on reviews from 122 critics and reports a rating average of 5.41/10, with the reported consensus: “A stylish and more focused sequel to The Transporter, the movie is over-the-top fun for fans of the first movie.” At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 56 based on 29 reviews, indicating “mixed or average reviews”. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of “B+” on an A+ to F scale.Cast:
- Jason Statham as Frank Martin
- Shu Qi as Lai Kwai
- François Berléand as Inspector Tarconi
- Matt Schulze as Darren “Wall Street” Bettencourt
- Ric Young as Mr. Kwai