THE TRANSPORTER REFUELED should not exist. Once Jason Statham left the franchise, they should have let it die. Statham’s quiet intensity and physical skills are what made the movies tolerable but even he had to have realized each sequel was not as good as it’s predecessor. Now, we get a low rent replacement for Statham in the form of Ed Skrein). I guess since Frank Martin doesn’t need to say much it shouldn’t be a big loss, right?
Well, apparently the filmmakers behind the TAKEN trilogy, as the poster and trailer for THE TRANSPORTER REFUELED so prominently proclaim, decided the mysterious Frank needed a back story to infuse his tale with some more relatable motivation. Enter: Dad!
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.
While this trailer looks slightly better than the previous one, it still has a generic feel to it just like HITMAN: AGENT 47. I cannot say that THE TRANSPORTER REFUELED looks bad but it doesn’t look good either. I am thinking this is a movie that clearly should go directly to Redbox rather than clog up an empty theater at your local multiplex.
THE TRANSPORTER REFUELED hits theaters on September 4th.