Transporter 2 (PG-13, 2005)

In this sequel, "professional driver" Frank Martin (Jason Statham) is in Miami, and is hired to drive adorable Jack (Hunter Clary), whose parents work for the U.S. narcotics agency. Frank takes action when Jack is kidnapped by villains who mean to infect whim with a virus that he'll then transmit by breathing on his dad, and dad will then transmit by breathing all over a conference full of international drug czars. The kidnappers include slickly sinister Gianni (Alessandro Gassman) and his psycho girlfriend Lola ( Kate Nauta), who is prone to pulling large automatic weapons miraculously out of her lacy underwear. Frank resists them both with self-assured, often slow-motioned fighting skills, seeming especially disdainful of the sloppy thugs they send to bully him.

Wild and nonsensical, Transporter 2 delivers a specific sort of pleasure, mostly by way of observing pain inflicted deftly. Like its clever and cheeky precursor, the sequel boasts elegant choreography by Corey Yuen and a crisp performance by Statham, even though his character remains defiantly undeveloped.

As producer Luc Besson has demonstrated in his broad array of action films (from Subway to The Fifth Element to Unleashed), the genre's point is style. Heroes and villains come and go (and are in the end interchangeable), but the look is forever. Frank is precise and resourceful, attentive to details. He keeps his promises, he's relentlessly neat. And he takes just-visible-enough delight in punishing the ugliness of others.

Studio: Twentieth Century Fox
Director: Louis Leterrier
Cast: Alessandro Gassman, Amber Valletta, Jason Statham
Genre: Action/Adventure
Run time: 88 minutes
Theatrical release: September 2, 2005
DVD release: January 10, 2006
MPAA Rating: PG-13
MPAA explanation: Violent action, sexual content, partial nudity, brief language