The Transporter Refueled

Dir: Camille Delamarre

2015

*

2002's The Transporter was a slick and enjoyable action film. Transporter 2 was more of the same but without the impact of the first and Transporter 3 was a tiresome cash-in and an exercise in horse-flogging. However, and quite typically with Luc Besson productions, those involved in his films don't seem to know when to stop and 2015 saw The Transporter Refueled. Jason Statham has made some stinkers in his career but even he wasn't naive enough to revisit this old banger of a franchise. Ex-DJ Ed Skrein didn't seem like a likely replacement for Statham's Frank Martin but clearly having a black suit, English accent and martial arts skills is all you need. Acting skill doesn't seem to come into it. It's not really clear whether this is the same Frank Martin or another version of the character, it wouldn't make sense if it were a prequel and even less sense if it is a sequel. Luckily no one really cares. The new characters are fairly two-dimensional, Frank's father (Ray Stevenson) plays a big part in the story and is the film's 'comic relief' and the bad guys are the usual copy and paste villains that could be from any of Besson's productions. The main story involves a group of prostitutes/strippers who decide to take revenge on their corporate pimp in what is a complicated and convoluted manner that goes some way to suggest that they're not just pretty faces. By the end of the film, and thanks to the awful writing and performances, it's clear that said prostitutes/strippers are just pretty faces and nothing else. Casting shop-window mannequins would have been cheaper and more convincing. For a film that should appeal to car chase lovers and martial arts enthusiasts there is a notable lack of car chases and martial arts. The Transporter franchise might have been refueled but unfortunately some idiot put unleaded petrol in the engine instead of diesel.