Transporter 2 | |
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![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Louis Leterrier |
Written by | |
Based on | Characters by Luc Besson Robert Mark Kamen |
Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Mitchell Amundsen |
Edited by |
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Music by | Alexandre Azaria |
Production companies |
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Distributed by |
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Release dates |
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Running time | 88 minutes [3] |
Country | France [4] |
Language | English |
Budget | $32 million [5] [2] |
Box office | $89.1 million [2] |
Transporter 2 (French: Le Transporteur 2) is a 2005 English-language French action film directed by Louis Leterrier and written by Luc Besson & Robert Mark Kamen. It is the sequel to The Transporter (2002) and the second installment in the Transporter franchise, followed by Transporter 3 (2008) and The Transporter Refueled, also called Transporter 4 (2015). It stars Jason Statham as Frank Martin, with Alessandro Gassmann, Amber Valletta, Kate Nauta, François Berléand, Matthew Modine, and Jason Flemyng. In the film, Frank Martin (Statham) is tasked with protecting the young son of politician Jefferson Billings (Modine) from an international drugs cartel.
Transporter 2 was theatrically released in France on 3 August 2005, by EuropaCorp, and was released in the United States on 2 September by 20th Century Fox. It received mixed reviews from critics with praise for Statham's performance, action sequences and direction, but criticism for its screenwriting. It grossed $89.1 million worldwide and was followed by the sequel Transporter 3 (2008).
Frank Martin has relocated from southern France to Miami, Florida where, as a favor to a friend, he becomes the temporary chauffeur for wealthy Audrey and Jefferson Billings. Frank bonds with their son Jack, picking him up from elementary school after subduing a gang of carjackers who try to steal his new Audi A8 W12. Preparing for a visit from his friend Inspector Tarconi, Frank rebuffs the drunken advances of Audrey, whose marriage has become strained.
When Frank takes Jack for a medical checkup, he realizes that impostors have killed the real doctor and receptionist. A lengthy fight erupts with the imposters, led by the trigger-happy Lola, but Frank escapes with Jack. Returning to the Billings' house, Frank receives a phone call explaining 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 in the car and evade the police, Frank is taken to Gianni Chellini, the operation's ringleader, who demands a $5 million ransom from the Billings. The kidnappers leave with Jack, while Frank succeeds in removing an explosive from his car a split-second before detonation.
Assuring Audrey of his innocence, Frank recovers a syringe left by the kidnappers at the doctor's office, while Jack is found seemingly unharmed. With Tarconi's help, Frank tracks down one of the kidnappers, Dimitri, and pretends to inject him with the syringe. He follows Dimitri to a makeshift lab, where he fights off another henchman and discovers the kidnappers have manufactured a deadly and highly contagious virus; Jack has been infected, passing the virus to his parents. Frank is forced to kill Dimitri, while Chellini's scientist hurls the antidote out of the window. Retrieving one dose intact, Frank sneaks into the Billings' home, warning Audrey and using the antidote on Jack.
Jefferson, head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, addresses a conference of heads of anti-drug organizations from around the world, unknowingly infecting them all. Frank races to Chellini's home, defeating his henchmen but discovering that Chellini has injected himself with the remaining supply of antidote. Chellini explains that the Colombian drug cartels hired him to eliminate their enemies, and that Frank cannot kill him and risk losing the antidote. Chellini leaves Lola to deal with Frank, who fatally impales her on a wine rack.
Chellini escapes by helicopter to a waiting jet to Colombia, while Frank steals his Lamborghini Murcielago Roadster and speeds to the airport, climbing into the jet's nose gear as it takes off. Killing the co-pilot, Frank confronts Chellini, who holds him at gunpoint. In the ensuing scuffle, the pilot is killed and the plane crash-lands in the ocean. Frank incapacitates Chellini while preserving the antidote in his bloodstream, pulling them out of the sinking plane as the police arrive.
At the hospital, the Billings are given the antidote and Jack has made a full recovery. After visiting the Billings in the hospital along with Jack, Frank drives Tarconi to the airport. Having dropped off Tarconi at the airport, Frank receives an unexpected call from someone who is looking for a transporter, to which he responds: "I'm listening".
Transporter 2 opened in the United States on 2 September 2005. During its opening weekend, the film grossed $16.5 million in the U.S. [6] In total, it earned $43 million in the U.S. and $85 million worldwide. [2]
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a score of 52% based on reviews from 122 critics and an average rating of 5.4/10, 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." [7] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score 56 out of 100, based on reviews from 29 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". [8] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale. [9]
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times awarded the film 3 stars out of 4 and said it was better than the original. [10] Stephen Hunter of the Washington Post gave it a negative review and wrote: "Statham isn't the best thing in Transporter 2; he's essentially the only thing." [11]
Director Louis Leterrier stated that Frank Martin was "the first gay action movie hero", suggesting that the character comes out when he refuses a woman's advances by saying, "It's because of who I am." [12] This is contradicted by the first film in the series, in which Martin sleeps with a woman, and Transporter 3 , which Leterrier did not direct, in which Martin develops a heterosexual relationship. Asked his opinion of the third film, Leterrier stated that after re-watching his first two films "they aren't that gay". [13]
Transporter 2: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | |
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Soundtrack album by Various Artists | |
Released | 6 September 2005 |
Genre | Pop, rock |
Length | 57:05 |
Label | TVT Records |
Producer | Various Artists |
Singles from Transporter 2: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | |
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
IGN | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The soundtrack album for Transporter 2 was released in the United States on 6 September 2005 by TVT Records. It features sixteen tracks recorded by various artists, including the film score composed by Alexandre Azaria. James Christopher Monger from Allmusic rated the album three stars out of five, citing Grand National's "Talk Amongst Yourselves", Anggun's "Saviour" and Mylo's "Paris Four Hundred" as the highlights of the soundtrack. [14]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Artist | Length |
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1. | "Naughty Girl" | Alexandre Azaria | Alexandre Azaria | 1:28 |
2. | "Cells" | Dan Black | The Servant | 4:50 |
3. | "Icarus" | Amen Birdmen | Amen Birdmen | 5:02 |
4. | "Painful" (Morphium Mix) | Brunello | Sin | 4:00 |
5. | "Main Theme" | Alexandre Azaria | Alexandre Azaria | 4:09 |
6. | "Life Support" | Dave Cobb, Dimitris Koutsiouris, Toby Marriott | The Strays | 2:56 |
7. | "Body" | Dan Black | The Servant | 4:46 |
8. | "Talk Amongst Yourselves" | Lawrence Rudd | Grand National | 4:31 |
9. | "Kendo" | Alexandre Azaria | Alexandre Azaria | 1:20 |
10. | "Saviour" | Anggun C. Sasmi, Evelyne Kral, Frederic Jaffre | Anggun | 3:44 |
11. | "Revolution" | Camus Mare Celli | Kate Nauta | 3:41 |
12. | "Paris Four Hundred" | Myles Macinnes | Mylo | 3:36 |
13. | "Can You Handle It?" | Sebo K. | Shakedown | 4:04 |
14. | "Chase" | Ross Bonney, Adam Goemans, Ramsay Miller, Scott Rinning | Cinematics | 3:52 |
15. | "Voodoo Child" | Laurent Daumail | Afu-Ra, DJ Cam | 3:13 |
16. | "Jet Boxing" | Alexandre Azaria | Alexandre Azaria | 2:19 |
Total length: | 50:05 |
In 2006, Louis Leterrier re-released an uncensored version of Transporter 2 on DVD. The uncensored release is roughly 25 seconds longer than the theatrical cut, and contains improved CGI, particularly during the car chase from the hospital as well as the private jet scene. This release also contains more violent footage and blood during the fight scenes, and contains more nudity in certain scenes with Lola. It is available in Japan (R2 NTSC), France and the UK (both R2 PAL), as well as Thailand (R3 NTSC). It is also available on Blu-ray Disc in France and Japan (both releases are region-free). The Blu-ray was temporarily banned in North America for legal reasons, but has since been re-released. The uncensored fight footage as well as a longer car chase scene was only featured as deleted scenes on the US DVD release. Also the deleted footage included the killing of the doctor.
A 2008 sequel, entitled Transporter 3, was released in the U.S. on 26 November 2008. The film follows Frank Martin as he returns to France. It is the only film in the Transporter trilogy to be distributed by Lionsgate in the US.
Jason Statham is an English actor and martial artist. He is known for portraying characters in various action-thriller films who are typically tough, gritty, or violent. Statham has been credited for leading the resurgence of action films during the 2000s and 2010s. His film career through 2017 generated over $1.5 billion in ticket sales, making him one of the film industry's most bankable stars.
Collateral is a 2004 American neo-noir action thriller film directed and produced by Michael Mann, written by Stuart Beattie, and starring Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx. The supporting cast includes Jada Pinkett Smith, Mark Ruffalo, Peter Berg, Javier Bardem, and Bruce McGill. The film follows Max Durocher (Foxx), a Los Angeles cab driver, and his customer, Vincent (Cruise). When offered a high fare for driving to several locations, Max agrees but soon finds himself taken hostage by Vincent who turns out to be a hitman on a contract killing spree.
The Transporter is a 2002 English-language French action film directed by Louis Leterrier from a screenplay by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen. The film, which was inspired by the short film series The Hire, is the first installment in the Transporter franchise and stars Jason Statham, alongside Shu Qi, François Berléand, Matt Schulze, and Ric Young. In the film, Frank Martin, a British mercenary driver living in France, finds himself involved in a human trafficking plot.
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Transporter may refer to:
Louis Leterrier is a French film and television director. Best known for his work in action films, he directed the first two Transporter films (2002–2005), The Incredible Hulk (2008), Clash of the Titans (2010), Now You See Me (2013), and the tenth Fast & Furious installment, Fast X (2023). He also directed the streaming television series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (2019).
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