MovieChat Forums > The Transporter (2002) Discussion > Wasn't this film an action COMEDY?

Wasn't this film an action COMEDY?

posted 13 years ago by Zombie55
4 replies | jump to latest

I'm surprised that the word 'comedy' is not attached as an addition to it's genre categories here when it blatantly is obvious by a lot of the scenes that it is one.

Starting from the beginning with the robbery scene and how the robbers just follow the rules of Statham's character about having only 3 men as originally planned, to a lot of the film's hilarious Jackie Chan-like martial arts scenes, to the way the guns fire that almost resemble Liam Neeson's "Naked Gun" and "Hot Shots" movies, and let's not forget the "re-directing the missile from a greande fired from a launcher by a silver platter" scene, it's obvious that "The Transporter" is an action COMEDY and not a serious action flick, yet most people forget that and the word 'comedy' is strangely absent from this film's genre categories!

[–] onerichard 13 years ago

It was not intended to be a comedy.

it's not a tradtional comedy, and could not stand beside the Jackie Chan movies as a comedy. it stands alone as an action B movie with stunts that come off funny, but not exactly meant to be.

I love the oil slick fight when the lead jumps on an old 10 speed bike and snaps off the pedals so he can get a grip on the concrete and fight... that's when I knew this movie was not to be taken too seriously and just have fun with it... but still, I wouldn't call it a comedy.

remember, he killed one of those robbers at the beginning... not to say that people don't die in comedies... but we are still supposed to consider this and action movie with campy scenes in it...

[–] everlone_2000 13 years ago

Yeah, it's perhaps tricky to define because it's not an out-and-out spoof but it's very tongue-in-cheek which seems to be a problem for a lot of people. You see a lot of reactions along the lines of "How do people like this film! It was ridiculous!" and then go on to list things like the oil fight, Statham taking out thugs by removing his shirt etc. To me that's like slagging off a roadrunner cartoon because he drew a black circle on the ground and then jumped through it. These things are ridiculous, but they're also playful, witty and inventive.

So I dunno. Perhaps the Transporter should have a 'comedy' label to stop people from becoming confused, but I would say that the opening car chase sets the tone pretty accurately. If the car jumping off a bridge and slotting into a spare space on a transport lorry doesn't make you laugh, then this is the wrong movie for you, I guess.

[–] TheBeardedWonder 10 years ago

Yeah it's a fine line between action/comedy and just straight over the top action movie. But compare this to 'shoot em up' and you can see one (this) is definitely more serious than the other - which was like a live action cartoon.

So while this does make you laugh and scoff, it's because it's so over the top it's comedic. It's not a comedy, it's actually fairly serious. But again, the craziness of it makes you chuckle, so I can see the confusion...

'Get yourself a real dog. Any dog under 50 lbs is a cat and cats are pointless' - Ron Swanson

[–] wiiztec 10 years ago

Leslie Nielsen's name is not Liam Neeson