Release: September 4, 2015
Director: Camille Delamarre
Written by: Bill Collage and Adam Cooper & Luc Besson
Cast: Ed Skrein, Ray Stevenson, Loan Chabanol, Radivoje Bukvic, Gabriella Wright, Anatole Taubman and Tatiana Pajkovic
Produced by: Luc Besson and Mark Gao
Runtime: 96 minutes
Rating: PG-13
Frank Martin (played by newcomer Ed Skrein), a former special-ops mercenary, is now living a less perilous life - or so he thinks - transporting classified packages for questionable people. When Frank’s father (Ray Stevenson) pays him a visit in the south of France, their father-son bonding weekend takes a turn for the worse when Frank is engaged by a cunning femme-fatale, Anna (Loan Chabanol), and her three seductive sidekicks to orchestrate the bank heist of the century. Frank must use his covert expertise and knowledge of fast cars, fast driving and fast women to outrun a sinister Russian kingpin, and worse than that, he is thrust into a dangerous game of chess with a team of gorgeous women out for revenge.
From the producers of LUCY and the TAKEN trilogy, THE TRANSPORTER REFUELED is a fresh personification of the iconic role of Frank Martin, that launches the high-octane franchise into the present-day and introduces it to the next generation of thrill-seekers.
Have you ever really liked Jason Statham in a movie role and, then, someone other than Statham tries to reprise Statham's role, and you can't get past the fact that Statham is missing? Because if you have, you might have been sitting next to me at this week's screening of The Transporter Refueled.
I have never seen Ed Skrein in anything before. I'm sure he's a fine actor, but he's no Statham, and, Statham is the only actor who I want to see play Frank Martin aka The Transporter. Still, I took a seat at The Transporter Refueled, and was willing to give it a chance. It underwhelmed.
After sitting through the whole ninety minute movie, I can only assume that Statham passed on the fourth installment of the Transporter series because he knew it wouldn't work. I always try to find something positive to say about a film. No film can be all bad. The Transporter Refueled is as close to all bad as I've seen.
Nothing worked for me. Overly dramatic, over-bloated effects and an over-complicated plot. Even at ninety minutes it seemed too long. This is a revenge shoot 'me up. Set in the French Riviera. The premise is that a gang super tech-savvy prostitutes want to get back at their pimps, and they need the help of the Transporter to do it. In addition to tech-savvy, they are also cold-blooded assassins who have access to medical equipment and poisons. It's just silly. The only part of the film that I liked was the car. The car should get an onscreen credit. Think ninety minute car commercial. Good car. Bad movie.
I don't want to go on and on. You get what I'm trying to convey. It's too bad, really. The Transporter series was fun before this most recent installment. If you must see it, wait for it to be available on VOD or rental. If you decide to spend your hard-earned twelve dollars to see this in theaters, I hope you will enjoy it more than I did. See The Transporter Refueled playing in theaters now.
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I have been hearing about this film, and I am sorry that it was so over the top that nothing really worked. I don't know why, but I also got that impression from Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation at times xD
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