Review: ‘Transporter: Refueled’ proves franchise is running on empty

Posted on September 11, 2015

By MARK VIOLA

It’s been 13 years since “The Transporter” first drove into theaters, propelling actor Jason Statham from relative obscurity to a household name. Written by French action maestro Luc Besson, the film introduced us to Frank Martin, a professional driver who, for the right price, will deliver anything anywhere, as long as you follow his very rigid rules.

“The Transporter: Refueled” features Ed Skrein (“Game of Thrones”) stepping into the role of Frank, and while he is not spectacular in the role, he is by far not the film’s worst problem and doesn’t even crack the top five, which include poor acting, atrocious dialogue, annoying directing decisions, a confusing lack of car chases and an overall lazy script.

The film’s only true positive is Ray Stevenson (“Thor: The Dark World,” “Divergent”), who plays Frank’s father. A former MI5 agent, Frank Senior is the movie’s most interesting character and there were multiple times I found myself thinking a movie about him would be a much better movie, at least with a different director.

Between the acting, dialogue and script, its nearly impossible to take any of the characters seriously enough to invest in their well-being, and it honestly seems like the movie doesn’t care either. There seems little to no reason to have Frank in this movie because so little of the job Anna and the others are trying to pull off involves driving. And the ending is weak and filled with mixed signals, as if the writers weren’t even sure what they were trying to
accomplish.

There’s enough action overall to keep “Refueled” from being completely boring, even though it still feels much longer than its relatively short 96-minute runtime would suggest. Stevenson as Frank Senior does make his scenes enjoyable, but he is the only spark in a movie–and a series–whose tank is truly out of gas.

The movie is rated PG-13 for sequences of violence and action, sexual material, some language, a drug reference and thematic elements.

(This is a shortened version of the full review available in our printed or e-edition papers.)

 

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