The Transporter Refueled

Sometimes I'm really not sure who makes some of the executive "green-light" decisions these days and this reboot/re-imagining/sequel of the Transporter series is a perfect example. 

Let's be honest. The Transporter films, of which there were three, weren't all that great to begin with. I actually enjoyed each of them, mainly because each film had some unique fight scenes scattered throughout. I believe I even own all three thanks to some $5 Blu-ray bargain bins. But that's beside the point. As films, they were dumb fun, and certainly not works of art and they didn't exactly set the box office on fire. So that leads me to the first reason as to why I ask, quite simply, "Why?". 

From the Transporter films we got Jason Statham, who has since moved on to bigger and better franchises, but I think it's a pretty easy argument to make that he was one of the main selling points of the enjoyment of the series. He's a badass and a few of the fight scenes throughout the series were all the better because of his gruff fighting style. Not to mention, he fit the persona of the "Transporter" perfectly. When speaking about actors who own any particular role, I'm not sure Statham as the Transporter, Frank Martin, would be the first on anyone's minds, nor should it be, but he did make the role his own enough to leave some very hard shoes to fill once he decided to not do a fourth film. So, once again to the purpose of this film, I ask, "Why?".   

I could probably come up with several other scenarios that lead to me asking the same question, but I'll not pain my readers with the drawn out point: The Transporter Refueled, while not outright terrible, is probably the most unnecessary film I've seen all year. 

Oh look! It's Jason Sta -- oh...never mind. Who's he?

Introducing: Fake Blonde #1, Fake Blonde #2,
Fake Blonde #3, Cool Guy in Suit,
and Shadowy Figure #1

A Transporter film's plot has never been their strong suit; mainly they are loose threads that tie together the action sequences. That's not all that surprising and it's really no different in Refueled. When it comes down to it it tells a story of prostitutes seeking revenge on their "owner" and the Transporter gets mixed up in all of it. Like the previous three films, it's not something you'll remember once leaving the theater, nor does the film really expect you to. This time around Ed Skrein is at the helm as Frank Martin because apparently the creators envision the Transporter series as the next James Bond where a new actor is needed every few films. I never like to throw an actor under the bus, but I really didn't enjoy Skrein in this role. I give him an A for effort, but it felt more like an attempt (a failed one at that) to impersonate Statham's Martin and it ends up coming off as incredibly forgettable. As good an effort as he puts forth, I'm not sure he's leading man material, especially in an action film. I don't think he would have been my first choice at all. I did enjoy Frank's father though, played by a suave Ray Stevenson, and their banter is decently amusing at times. All other performances throughout the film are instantly forgettable, and most suffer from very odd audio issues where it sounds like the actors were speaking into microphones even if their character is a few steps away from the camera lens. Many of the foreign actors' voices seem artificial and almost like they were added on in post production. It's weird. 

In the realm of action I didn't find Refueled to disappoint as much as I had anticipated, but that's most likely attributed to my expectations already being pretty low. The action low-lights are the car sequences that are, for the most part, poorly filmed and edited, and kind of a just a collection of Frank-making-a-sharp-turn-and-his-pursuers-crashing shots. In a world post Mad Max: Fury Road, it's hard for these to be pleasing. One sequence, while outlandish, was a good bit of fun despite some of the obvious CG though. Where I was impressed the most was the hand-to-hand combat. It won't blow your mind, but portions of these scenes are filmed well and a fight with drawers and the car rolling forward in neutral (though completely useless) were well choreographed and fun to watch. 

"Do I look like Jason yet?"
"No Ed. Keep trying."

The Transporter Refueled could have been much worse but that's kind of like saying that a moldy piece of cheese could have tasted much worse. Either way it's something that you didn't really need nor does it offer you any nutritional value from the cheese you were eating previously (can you tell I'm hungry?). Moral of the story is: when you have a mildly successful franchise, and I use mildly with a grain of salt, that leans heavily on its star power, don't expect a sequel/reboot/re-imagining without your star to be any sort of success. You'll be left with a lot of movie goers, such as myself, asking, 

"Why?"

CONS:

• There is no discernible reason for this film to exist
• Lackluster story, forgettable characters -- including Frank Martin
• Ed Skrein does not "nail it" as the Transporter
• Woefully unoriginal. From the music to the action to the plot to the resolution, this is all just a copy of other films before it
• Choppy chase scene filming
• Really odd audio issues with most characters' dialogue
• Jason Statham is very missed
• Instantly forgettable

PROS:

• When compared to the other Transporter films, this one doesn't disappoint as much as I had anticipated
• Interesting, at times fun, dynamic between father and son
• Mindless action fun
• A few unique scenes that are filmed well too. The drawer fight scene, although very brief, seems like something that would have definitely been in one of Statham's films
• It's a good looking movie
• The Audi S8 gets tons of screen time and it's incredibly sexy

Rath's Review Score: 5/10