Robin PottratzJason Statham, Please Step Away From the Car
November 21st 2008 23:34
For those who don't know Jason Statham, you were probably introduced to him in Guy Ritchie's films "Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" and "Snatch" where he played gruff English gangsters. His tough guy persona has followed him throughout his entire career and has allowed him to be quite successful. However he is probably best known for his role as Frank Martin in the B-list action franchise: "The Transporter."
In the popcorn friendly "Transporter" films, he plays an ex-navy seal who has assumed a new career delivering packages from crime lords to other devious figures. Usually something goes wrong and he has to go beat up a bunch of bad guys and a lot of stuff explodes. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the "Transporter" movies, I think they are a lot of fun and Statham is very good in them, but when I recently saw that there was going to be a "Transporter 3," I got to thinking about Jason Statham's career and have noticed something...He is always driving. He always plays a driver or the plot revolves around driving or driving is a central plot point in all of his films. You may think that I am just focusing on the "Transporter" movies but if you take a larger look at Statham's resume, you can see that I am right about the aspect of driving in his films.
The most obvious place to start is his 2002 breakthrough "The Transporter" where he drives a nice car and beats up bad guys. In fact the concept of delivery with the use of a motor vehicle is implied in the title. He followed that up with 2003's cult hit "The Italian Job," where he was a member of a heist crew. What part of the crew was he...you guessed it the getaway driver. He then followed that up by revisiting the franchise that made him famous in 2005's "The Transporter 2." There was not much plot deviation from the first flick so Statham continued to thrive in his natural state...driving.
Now to be fair...he did anchor a moderately successful action film: "Crank" where he played an adrenaline junkie whose heart rate must stay at a certain level to stay alive. It was at least a small deviation for him...but he got right back to driving in 2008. Not only does he have the impending third "Transporter" film, but he was in a movie called "Death Race." In "Death Race," he played a former NASCAR racer who was framed for murder. He then makes a deal with the warden to participate in Death Race, which she owns and operates. If he wins the race, then he can go free, but there are a whole bunch of deadly obstacles in the way for him. I didn't see "Death Race" but I am assuming he ends up going free.
The reasons that I am bringing up Statham's penchant for excessive driving in his movies are numerous. For starters, I couldn't think of anything else to write and I didn't want to go more than two days without writing something (don't ever say I don't sacrifice for you). Secondly, I find excessive driving and frequent car chases to be redundant and boring in movies, especially when they are completely expected. Finally, I think that Jason Statham is a talented actor. As evidenced in "Lock Stock," "Snatch," and this years "The Bank Job" he can bring a gritty realism to crime films. However, when he is reduced to little more than a muscle bound driver in all of his movies, it diminishes his talent and just wastes his and our time.
I do hope that Statham grows out of his "Driving Action Star" phase and flexes his artistic muscles in the near future. For now I do expect Statham to whore himself for paychecks in action flicks. I do believe that he will be more artistically diverse eventually, but in the meantime I advise all moviegoers to just sit back, relax, and enjoy your spot in the backseat of a cinematic car that Statham will sure be driving.
In the popcorn friendly "Transporter" films, he plays an ex-navy seal who has assumed a new career delivering packages from crime lords to other devious figures. Usually something goes wrong and he has to go beat up a bunch of bad guys and a lot of stuff explodes. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the "Transporter" movies, I think they are a lot of fun and Statham is very good in them, but when I recently saw that there was going to be a "Transporter 3," I got to thinking about Jason Statham's career and have noticed something...He is always driving. He always plays a driver or the plot revolves around driving or driving is a central plot point in all of his films. You may think that I am just focusing on the "Transporter" movies but if you take a larger look at Statham's resume, you can see that I am right about the aspect of driving in his films.
The most obvious place to start is his 2002 breakthrough "The Transporter" where he drives a nice car and beats up bad guys. In fact the concept of delivery with the use of a motor vehicle is implied in the title. He followed that up with 2003's cult hit "The Italian Job," where he was a member of a heist crew. What part of the crew was he...you guessed it the getaway driver. He then followed that up by revisiting the franchise that made him famous in 2005's "The Transporter 2." There was not much plot deviation from the first flick so Statham continued to thrive in his natural state...driving.
Now to be fair...he did anchor a moderately successful action film: "Crank" where he played an adrenaline junkie whose heart rate must stay at a certain level to stay alive. It was at least a small deviation for him...but he got right back to driving in 2008. Not only does he have the impending third "Transporter" film, but he was in a movie called "Death Race." In "Death Race," he played a former NASCAR racer who was framed for murder. He then makes a deal with the warden to participate in Death Race, which she owns and operates. If he wins the race, then he can go free, but there are a whole bunch of deadly obstacles in the way for him. I didn't see "Death Race" but I am assuming he ends up going free.
The reasons that I am bringing up Statham's penchant for excessive driving in his movies are numerous. For starters, I couldn't think of anything else to write and I didn't want to go more than two days without writing something (don't ever say I don't sacrifice for you). Secondly, I find excessive driving and frequent car chases to be redundant and boring in movies, especially when they are completely expected. Finally, I think that Jason Statham is a talented actor. As evidenced in "Lock Stock," "Snatch," and this years "The Bank Job" he can bring a gritty realism to crime films. However, when he is reduced to little more than a muscle bound driver in all of his movies, it diminishes his talent and just wastes his and our time.
I do hope that Statham grows out of his "Driving Action Star" phase and flexes his artistic muscles in the near future. For now I do expect Statham to whore himself for paychecks in action flicks. I do believe that he will be more artistically diverse eventually, but in the meantime I advise all moviegoers to just sit back, relax, and enjoy your spot in the backseat of a cinematic car that Statham will sure be driving.
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