Transporter 3

Transporter 3 (French: Le Transporteur 3) is a 2008 English-language French action-thriller film. It is the third and final installment in the original trilogy of the Transporter franchise. Both Jason Statham and François Berléand reprise their roles, as Frank Martin and Inspector Tarconi, respectively. The first film in the series to be directed by Olivier Megaton, it continues the story of Frank Martin, a professional "transporter" who has returned to France to continue his low-key business of delivering packages without question.

Plot
A ship arrives, carrying toxic chemicals that have killed two of its crew members. Frank Martin and Inspector Tarconi fish in the Marseilles when Tarconi receives a call about a black Audi A8 that has sped past French customs and evaded the police in a car chase. While Tarconi returns to headquarters to give Frank's alibi, in Odessa, Ukraine, the Environmental Agency Minister, Leonid Tomilenko, receives a threat from Ecocorp boss Johnson to reopen business negotiations.

At night, the Audi crashes into Frank's home, with a wounded transporter, Malcolm Melville, whom Frank had referred when he declined a previous job. As paramedics take away Malcolm, Frank discovers a woman in the back seat of the Audi who warns him not to take her from the car – she shows him a metal bracelet she and Malcolm have been wearing. Frank rushes outside, but the ambulance explodes, killing Malcolm. Frank is then knocked out by one of Johnson's henchmen.

Johnson places an explosive bracelet on Frank, forcing him to take a package and the woman, Valentina, to Budapest. Tomilenko negotiates to postpone signing Ecocorp's agreement that would allow the ship with the chemicals into his country. While Tarconi researches into Johnson's motivations, Frank goes off-course, visiting a garage to try to deal with the bracelet, but as he fends off Johnson's men, his mechanic friend Otto cannot disarm the device on the car. At Budapest, Johnson tells Frank that he's fired. One of Johnson's men steals the Audi with Valentina inside, leaving Frank to chase him down by bicycle and retrieve them both.

After Frank and Johnson agree to call it even, Johnson sends him to Bucharest, but Frank and Valentina are chased by a black Mercedes-Benz E-Class driven by Tomilenko's agents. After opening the package in the trunk, Frank realizes Valentina is the real package. She then seduces Frank by holding his car keys, resulting in them having sex. Valentina, who is revealed to be Tomilenko's daughter, explains that she was drugged in Ibiza and was transported by Malcolm in order for Johnson to blackmail her father.

Johnson redirects him to Odessa, where he and his men surround them on a bridge. Although Valentina is delivered to Johnson and her bracelet removed, Johnson's men shoot at Frank's car. Frank drives off the bridge into the lake, fooling Johnson into believing that he is dead, but survives by using the air from the car's tires to inflate a buoying device.

Aboard the train, Johnson lets Tomilenko talk to Valentina and gives him 15 minutes to sign the contract. After Tarconi and the Ukrainian police retrieve Frank and the Audi, Frank continues his chase and jumps the car on top of the train containing Johnson and his men. He takes out all of Johnson's men but cannot touch Johnson because he is too far from his car.

After Johnson separates the train cabs, Frank jumps his car into the cab, and beats Johnson, strapping him with the bracelet and sending his car, which Johnson is restrained to, into reverse. Johnson breaks free, but is inevitably blown into pieces inside of the cab; Frank reunites with and kisses Valentina in the rubble. Upon hearing from Tarconi that Valentina is safe, Tomilenko tears up the Ecocorp contracts before heading for his business conference. The cargo ship is raided by police and sent away from Ukrainian shores.

Frank and Tarconi return to fishing in Marseilles; Valentina, who is assumed to be fully in a relationship with Frank, suggests they eat out instead.

Cast

 * Jason Statham as Frank Martin
 * Natalya Rudakova as Valentina Tomilenko
 * François Berléand as Inspector Tarconi
 * Robert Knepper as Johnson
 * Jeroen Krabbé as Leonid Tomilenko
 * Alex Kobold as Leonid's Aide
 * Katia Tchenko as Leonid's Secretary
 * David Atrakchi as Malcom Manville
 * Yann Sundberg as Flag
 * Eriq Ebouaney as Ice
 * David Kammenos as Driver Market
 * as Mighty Joe
 * Oscar Relier as Thug / Driver
 * Timo Dierkes as Otto
 * Igor Koumpan as Ukrainian cop
 * Paul Barrett as Captain
 * Elef Zack as Mate
 * Michel Neugarten as Assassin Driver – Sergei
 * Farid Elquardi as Yuri


 * Semmy Schilt as the Giant

Production
Natalya Rudakova was spotted by Luc Besson on the street as she hurried to her job at a New York City hair salon. He paid for 25 acting lessons over a six-month period in Paris before she received the role. Roger Ebert noted the rarity of leading ladies who are heavily freckled.

Shooting was initially expected to last for 16 weeks, in France. It was also filmed in Odessa, Ukraine.

Release
Transporter 3 was released by Lionsgate Films in the United States. On its opening weekend, the film opened at number 7 with $12 million. The film grossed $31.7 million in the United States and in Canada and $77.3 million in other countries, for a total gross of $109 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing film in the Transporter trilogy. Transporter 3 was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on March 10, 2009 in the United States. 1,108,030 units were sold, bringing in $19.7 million in revenue. Icon Films picked up the rights to distribute the film in the UK and Australia.

Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 37% based on reviews from 110 critics and reports a rating average of 4.8 out of 10. The consensus reads: "This middling installment in the Transporter franchise is a few steps down from its predecessors, featuring generic stunts and a lack of energy." At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 51 based on 26 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".