Transporter: The Series

As I had seen all Transporter films and got used to Jason Statham in the leading role, it took some to time to accept Chris Vance - in spite of his charm and abilities (most of supporting cast is not striking either). And unlike the films, the series had evident need for additional sponsorship as the role of product placements - starting from Audi's logo and ending with all connected to France/French - is unusually large.

As for the script, it includes bizarre approaches and elements. Well, the events take place mostly in "decent" Western countries, it is odd to watch Frank Martin rapidly and recklessly driving on city streets, sometimes with shootings, and there is hardly any police trying to catch or stop them; fights are often for fight's sake as well and clothing of the involved remain nice and clean; most real bad guys treat the Transporter oddly in a mild manner, etc. etc.

Thus, it is not a high-quality entertainment, but if you have limited time and not eager to ponder on and over all the time, then Transporter: The Series is still more than okay. Although there are casual flashbacks and references to the past, you are not obliged to watch all episodes in strict sequence or missing some of them - you will still get a picture what is going on.

If you are not looking for a deep storyline and just want honest-to-goodness and shamelessly shallow action, you'll like this series. It does not apologize for being "standard", "cliché", or any other derogatory epithet thrown at it. It's just a straight-up, old-fashioned "good guy kicks ass and gets the girl" kind of show. And that's perfectly OK with me. At the end of a day working hard and studying hard or even on a lazy day-off, I don't necessarily want deep plots and Shakespearean epics, I just want brain-dead, no-holds-barred entertainment of the action and suspense genre. And the transporter delivers (pun very much intended)! Heck, just the hot babes and bad girls are well worth the price of admission! :-)

This is about a guy who drives a Audi from point A to B, picking up 'packages' and delivering them. He is hired because he doesn't ask questions and because he does his job well.I'm not really sure if I like this or dislike it. There are some good fight scenes (like Chinese movies. But no flying so kind of highly believable). To be honest there is no story in most of the scenes. I mean how can you, since it is about a driver. No mystery no twists and turns. You know who the bad guy is from the beginning so the story will about how the driver will fight his way out and do the job (deliver the package) at the end. Well I don't see this series going to be a hit. But it is not as bad as some other action TV shows. The acting is pretty amateur. Wonder why they didn't hire some good actors since they sure must have put a lot of money in all those fast car stunts and things. The scenery too is nice. You get some nude scene too. That might help to sell the show. Besides that hardly see anything promising in it. They could have done better with a bit more writing. Anyways it is up to the viewer to decide whether they are going to like it or not. I will give a 5 for this.

I have just finished watching the first episode of Transporter: The Series and you can see how it has cost a reported four million dollars per episode to make. Unfortunately all that money didn't buy a good script.

Don't get me wrong, I actually enjoyed the first episode from an entertainment perspective; it's just that I wish that the makers of action film and TV would place a little (or a lot) more emphasis on a quality script.

However I have only watched the first episode and am hoping the story lines and scripts improve, as there are many positives to the show that while not fully compensating for the poor screenplay, make it an enjoyable hours' entertainment.

The action scenes are very good, as you would expect with this kind of budget. The car scenes,which of course there are many (it is about a transporter after all)are well executed, and the fighting scenes are very reminiscent of the three films starring Jason Stratham.

The locations are also recognisable from the films, including Frank's house before it was blown up, and François Berléand reprises his role as Inspector Tarconi.

Chris Vance tries his best, and does extremely well considering what he has to work with, and while he is not Jason Stratham, I think he will grow into the role nicely, and will prove to be a good choice as Frank Martin.

Hopefully the script and story lines improve, because Transporter: The Series certainly shows promise, and is well worth a second and perhaps third look.

Firstly, I'd like to say the only good thing I've seen by watching the first episode is Chris Vance's fighting.

Bullets nor rear ending and squishing other cars doesn't even scratch Frank's car. The script and acting of most of the actors are just terrible. Some scenes are just too predictable especially the excessive nudeness which I predicted would be seen often in this series just after seeing the opening scene.

I noticed the inspector from the original series is playing the same role. I'm just wondering why the other aspects couldn't be brought here. It doesn't have to be as good as the movies. Just better than this.

I hope it gets better in time.