(2002) Living a high-class lifestyle with a good reputation on the French Mediterranean, former US Army special-forces soldier Frank Martin (Jason Statham) discreetly hires himself out - deliveries with no questions asked - as a transporter of contraband. Impeccably dressed in a black suit, he drives a specially-equipped 1999 black BMW.

He has strict rules, as the leader of a gang of thieves discovers in Nice after pulling off a robbery with Frank driving the getaway vehicle, the first being: "Never change the deal." (An unexpected fourth man overweights the car, making maneuvering too difficult.) On the next job - rule number two, "No names" - a 50-kilo sack is placed in his trunk to be taken to Luxembourg; but on the way his car has a flat.

Opening the trunk to get the spare, he notices the bag moving. Rule three, "Never look in the package," he breaks, finding a pretty Asian girl inside with her mouth taped shut. He allows her to drink through a straw and then pee at the end of a rope before delivering her as directed.

Beginning and ending with car-chase scenes, directors Cory Yuen and Louis Leterrier, from a screenplay by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen, deliver a fast-paced, kick-ass, violently funny, explosively entertaining action adventure - see what happens when rules begin to be broken - in the implausible style of Die Hard.

After accepting the package from the transporter, the recipient Wall Street (Matt Schulze) requests another delivery of a much smaller package to Grenoble. Intended to eliminate Frank, the package explodes; fortunately he'd made a stop and wasn't behind the wheel when it blew the vehicle to smithereens. Frank returns for revenge and unknowingly drives away with a stowaway in a different car.

"I ask the questions," he says to Lai (Shu Qi) when he brings her back to his residence: "You answer the questions." In the morning Inspector Tarconi (François Berleand), with a memory like Marcel Proust, pays Frank another visit about a BMW license plate found at the scene of the car bomb; Lai serves him a hot-from-the-oven madeleine.

"I'm still wondering if I want to know everything or nothing about you," Frank says to Lai, who shows her appreciation for his saving her life. Next his specially-equipped home receives similar to treatment from Wall Street as his BMW. Being a man who likes things simple and tidy, everything in its place, Frank discovers that with Lai everything has become extremely complicated. She tells him that if he doesn't help her, 400 people are going to die while being smuggled in a container arriving on a ship.

In the incredible fight scenes - especially the slick scene in the bus station - though Frank is always outnumbered, his superior speed of mind and body, employing multi-dexterity of feet as well as hands, handily defeat his opponents. You won't be disappointed.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in video and/or DVD format, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

Copyright © 2011 Patrick Ivers. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

Patrick Ivers can be reached via e-mail at .