Jason Statham’s cameo in Collateral left Transporter followers with just a few questions. Collateral is an neo-noir action thriller set within the span of a single night time, starring Jamie Foxx as unsuspecting taxi driver Max Durocher and Tom Cruise in one in all his most iconic roles as Vincent, a relentless hitman in want of a loyal experience round Los Angeles. The movie is directed by Warmth director Michael Mann, who led the movie to excessive important and business success in 2004.
Jason Statham starred in the unique Transporter trilogy because the methodical Frank Martin, a contract driver for rent who completes shady deliveries for questionable people. He strictly follows three adamant guidelines in all of his providers: “by no means change the deal,” “no names” or any indication of who’s concerned within the job, and essentially the most important one: “by no means open the package deal.” Though he breaks his third rule because the starting of the primary movie — when the package deal is a kidnapped lady — it is his meticulousness on the job, coupled together with his nearly supernatural driving and martial arts skills, that makes him one of the best and most effective candidate for a transportation job.
Within the opening scene of Collateral, Tom Cruise’s Vincent is seen strolling within the crowd at an airport. Instantly after, Statham seems to be strolling someplace close by. The movie isolates the 2 of them from the group to attract consideration to what occurs subsequent: they stumble upon one another and excuse themselves a little an excessive amount of. They then alternate a understanding look earlier than parting methods. Those that noticed the primary Transporter movie two years earlier than the discharge of Collateral instantly puzzled if Statham was enjoying Frank Martin delivering one other package deal. Nonetheless, that will not be the case.
Everything of The Transporter happened in Good, France. Frank Martin can be relocated to Miami solely till the start of Transporter 2, which got here out one 12 months after the LA-based Collateral. Additionally, Frank solely transports his deliveries by car and avoids making any form of contact with them (besides if mentioned package deal is a damsel in misery). The final exhibit in opposition to this idea is that Statham is barely credited as “Airport Man,” which makes the connection even much less probably.
Then again, it might be argued that the fee for this specific job is excessive sufficient to make the journey from France to Los Angeles value it. The bag that Vincent exchanges with Frank seems fairly full, and Vincent later proves his negotiation expertise with Max when he convinces him to be his private driver. Each Frank and Vincent are comparable sufficient to be a part of an even bigger felony community, and Vincent’s mission in LA to kill his employer’s witnesses and prosecutor Annie (Jada Pinkett-Smith) appears a job worthy of hiring one of the best transporter on the planet. Director Michael Mann left the which means of the cameo as much as the viewer’s thoughts, and he has neither confirmed nor denied that Statham’s position in Collateral is something past only a nod to his earlier character ever because the launch of the movie, so it is as much as every viewer’s particular person headcanon to see it as such.
Cameos like Jason Statham in Collateral are rewarding to movie lovers and followers of the movies they allude to. Characters unexpectedly showing in numerous movies are nothing new, and nothing detrimental would come out of a rise in these sorts of nods to the viewers, so long as they’re in a position to perceive and benefit from the movie as an entire with out the necessity to know what each reference means. This specific instance excels in leaving the viewer free to both see it as a Marvel-type reference that establishes an implicit cinematic universe or to treat it as a enjoyable element to level out on a rewatch with mates.
