Frank Martin (character)

Martin is shown as an ex- commandos , now leading a quiet life on the Mediterranean coast ^[1] . His military past includes operations in Lebanon , Syria and Sudan . He resigned from service after a scandal with his superiors who played down his military merits, and then began to use his army skills, becoming a black market courier.

Martin’s homeland is unknown, but in one of the scenes of the film we see the Bronze Star , that is, Frank served in the US Army. In accent, he can be either British or American, who may have spent a large amount of time in another country.

At the beginning of the film, Martin already has a good reputation in his field. Leading an apparently lawful life, however, he came under the suspicion of the French police, as he had previously lived in France.

Army skills

Martin’s military past plays a role, as he is familiar with explosives , etc. Attention is focused on his skills as an experienced driver who can perform incredible maneuvers while maintaining complete control of the vehicle. Martin often engages in hand-to-hand combat, improvising if necessary, using improvised objects as a weapon. He is also an experienced sniper.

Rules

Martin carries out his work, adhering to strict rules, which he does not want to change, and expects from his clients that they will adhere to them, otherwise they will be terminated by the contract.

Fundamental rules

1. Never change the terms of the transaction;
2. No names;
3. Never open a parcel;
4. Never make a promise you cannot keep. (Added in the movie " Carrier 2 ")

Initially, these rules seem unnecessarily strict, however, their importance is shown when Frank, hired as a driver, does not want to take one person more than was previously agreed. Martin's violation of his own rule not to open parcels is a central theme in Carrier.

Rules for handling equipment

1. Respect the person’s car, and the person will respect you;
2. Salute the man;
3. Fasten your seat belt.

Appearance

Martin maintains a kind of uniform consisting of a black suit, black tie and white shirt.

Cars

Martin prefers four-door cars using the BMW 735i E38 1999 and the Mercedes-Benz W140 in Carrier, the Audi A8 2005 6.0 W12 in Carrier 2 and the Audi A8 6.0 W12 in Carrier 3. However, during the pursuit scene in Carrier 2, he leads Lamborghini Murcielago , Porsche , Ferrari and Audi A3 Sportback 3.2 quattro ^[2] .

Carrier

In the first film, Frank is hired to deliver a parcel to an American gangster , known only as Wall Street. Violating one of his rules, Frank opens the package and finds a related girl - Lai ( Shu Qi ). In the beginning, Frank simply delivers her to her destination, but when Wall Street tries to kill Frank, he returns to the destination. Frank beats up many of Wall Street's henchmen and steals the car along with Lai hiding there. The next morning, a police inspector comes to Frank's house and questions this story. They manage to locate Wall Street while they are at the police station. Lai explains that there is also a shipping container full of people. However, in the Wall Street office, it turns out that Lai lied. After a big action, and with the help of an inspector, Frank finds a truck full of emigrants.

Martin is assisted by a French police inspector named Tarkoni. Initially, Tarkoni was commissioned to investigate a series of explosions carried out by Martin, but it all ends with the fact that Tarkoni helps him.

Partner

It is believed that it is Frank Martin who appears at the very beginning of the film " Accessory ". According to the plot, Jason Statham in the episodic role of a Stranger who looks very similar to Frank Martin, exchanges briefcases at the airport with Vincent ( Tom Cruise ). Louis Letrier , director of the films " Carrier " and " Carrier 2 ", did not rule out the possibility of Frank appearing in episodic roles in films of this kind ^[3] .

Carrier 2

Between two films, Frank moved from France to Miami, Florida, where he is hired as a driver for the Billings family. Very little may surprise the Carrier, but young Jack Billings did it - Frank made friends with a six-year-old child whom he takes to and from school in his new Audi A8 (W12 6.0). A gang of violent criminals disguised as doctors is trying to infect Jack during the child’s next visit to the doctor. When Jack and Frank come to the doctor, a fierce firefight begins between the sadist Lola and Frank. Jack and Frank barely manage to escape from the criminals, but they are overtaken already near the Billings house. Gianni, the leader of the gang, makes Frank leave with Jack, leaving Audrey Billings, the mother of the child, at a loss. Frank was threatened that they would kill the child right in the car with an armor-piercing bullet (on the forehead of the child you can see the green backlight). Apparently, her husband Jeff believes that Frank is the kidnapper, sending police on his heels. Frank is forced to leave Jack in the hands of Gianni. Returning to the car, he sees in a puddle a reflection of the bottom of the car on which the bomb was attached. He drives to the pier and flips the car in the air, where a crane hook knocks a bomb a second before the explosion. Having paid the ransom to the kidnappers, the Billings get Jack back, but no one knows that Jack was infected with a deadly virus that kills all who come into contact with him in a day.

Frank remains to take everything into his own hands. He discovers one of the “doctors” who shot him and pretends to have infected him with the same virus (there was water in the syringe). The Russian "doctor" panics and runs to the laboratory to get an antidote. Frank follows on his heels and discovers a cure. The doctor throws two capsules of medicine out the window. After jumping after them, Frank manages to save only one. Having made his way to the Billings house, he explains to Audrey that he is innocent, and gives her medicine to Jack. But the mother and father of the child are already infected. Jeff Billings heads to an international meeting of heads of drug-fighting organizations. Frank understands that the abduction of Jack was only necessary to infect his father with a virus so that Jeff could then infect the entire congregation. Gianni was hired by Colombian drug cartels to decapitate the world's anti-drug organizations.

Frank then drives to Gianni’s house full of criminals. Having made his way to Gianni himself, Frank sees that Gianni injected himself with all the remaining medicine. Gianni then runs away, leaving Frank in the care of Lola. After the final, but short, battle, Lola dies. Frank then picks up a Lamborghini Gianni and drives to the airport, where he jumps on a Gianni taking off a private plane. Killing the co-pilot, Frank fights with Gianni. Gianni shoots Frank, but hits the pilot, and the plane crashes into the ocean. Frank manages to disconnect Gianni and swim with him to the surface, where they are already waiting for the police. The film ends with Frank's visit to the Billings at the hospital. The doctors managed to recreate the medicine from Gianni’s blood, and Frank, seeing a happy family, quietly leaves the hospital in a car.

Carrier 3

After his last adventures in Miami, Frank Martin decided to change the work of the “carrier” to a quiet and secluded life in the French Riviera. But his plans were not destined to come true when a former soldier from the Delta squad Jonas Johnson turned to him. He said that, by order of Ecocorp Corporation, a waste management and recycling company, Valentina, daughter of the Ukrainian Minister of Environmental Protection Leonid Tomilenko, was kidnapped in order to obtain official permission for the disposal of toxic waste in Ukraine by extortion. Now the hero’s task is to deliver Valentine through Europe to Odessa. To ensure the fulfillment of the assignment, Johnson puts on Frank and Valentine binary electromagnetic bracelets, exploding if their owners are removed 25 meters from the car. Performing this task, the main character will have to face new dangers that are associated not only with his order ...

Carrier: Legacy

A television series based on a series of films. In the role of Frank Martin - Chris Vance .

• After playing the role of Frank Martin, the press called Stateham "British Bruce Willis " ^[4] .
• The magazine “Best Life” held a photo shoot with the participation of State, where he advertises the clothes of fashion houses Hermès , Polo Ralph Lauren , Ermenegildo Zegna , Valentino , Ferragamo , stylized as Frank Martin ^[5] .
• In a review of Roger Ebert on the film "Carrier 3" it is said that Jason Statham depicts such an action hero who "can participate in snowmobile racing even with broken hands" ^[6] .
• Frank Martin’s villa in Nice is reminiscent of Kerry Grant ’s villa in the movie “ Catch a Thief ” ^[7] .
• In which particular special forces and in what capacity Frank Martin served, also remains unknown. A number of film experts, in particular from Black Belt and The Drum magazines , suggest that he served in the US Special Forces ^{[1] [8]} . Komsomolskaya Pravda calls him “a former special forces agent” ^[9] , so it remains unclear whether he served in the military rank or was a civilian specialist. Film critic Alain Farrell writes on this subject ^[7] :

Martin, obviously, served in someone’s army (it seems that he is a former SASovets , despite the fact that a more thorough search in his things will reveal the American Bronze Star ).

• The screening in the Audi A8 W12 film, which Frank Martin leads in Carrier 2, was part of Audi's marketing strategy, implemented in the form of a product placement ^[10] .
• In the action movie Adrenaline: High Voltage , there is an episode that mentions Frank Martin. When an old woman about whom the main character rubbed herself at a hippodrome gives a television interview, she says that the pervert who attacked her “is very similar to the English actor who played Frank Martin from the movie“ Carrier - 3 “.” Jason Statham, who played Frank Martin, played the role of the protagonist in the Adrenaline films.
• The hero of State is most likely an experienced pilot of a combat helicopter, as in the photo of the girl found in the first film, he shows the helicopter’s flight suit and headphones. This fact explains its ability to accurately and prudently drive, as well as the requirements for cargo or passengers.

Periodicals

• “Under Fire” (German) = Unter Beschuss // Focus: das moderne Nachrichtenmagazin: Magazine. - Munich : Focus Magazin-Verlag, 2003. - Nr. 16-20 . - S. 74 .
• “Explosive Cargo 2” (Carga Explosiya 2) // Veja (Portuguese) : Journal. - Sao Paolo : Editora Abril, 2006. - No. 39–42 . - S. 108 .
• John Willis , Barry Monush. World Movie Annual Review = Screen World Film Annual. - Illustrated. - Hal Leonard Corp, 2006.- T. 57. - S. 282. - 466 p. - ISBN 1-5578-3706-6 .

• Frank Martin (character ) on the Internet Movie Database
• Jason Statham Interview for Showbiz TV Show on YouTube