The original made a balletic bruiser of a star out of Jason Statham, and it enjoyably fused trashy European glitz with deliriously fun Hong Kong fight choreography. With a better script and a stronger cast of minor characters The Transporter Refueled could have been the explosive revitalisation Besson set out to create for the franchise.The fun’s been siphoned from a franchise tank with “The Transporter: Refueled,” a reboot of the Luc Besson-produced French Mediterranean-set series about a lone wolf driver-for-hire that spawned three movies from 2002 to 2008. There’s not much to stand out here and it’s a shame. On the whole, it’s a pretty dull experience. The villains are bland, the story is predictable and the creators seemed to have ignored the show-don’t-tell rule completely with every piece of information or symbolism painstakingly explained. The script is dull and clunky, and, while a lot of the poor acting can be blamed on that, there are a few weak links in the cast. They might not attain the comedic heights of Sean Connery and Harrison Ford in The Last Crusade but their banter is a high point.Įlsewhere, things fare less well. Ray Stevenson is charming as ever as Frank Sr and the two have a believable, natural chemistry. He’s likeable and brings a little bit more emotion to the role than Statham did.

Skrein has big shoes to fill, taking over for Jason Statham in the lead role, but for a relatively unknown actor he pulls it off well. What follows is a fairly standard action flick with adrenaline-fuelled chases, increasingly outlandish stunts and well choreographed fight scenes. Anna hires the Transporter and abducts his father, the newly retired Frank Sr. Enter the titular character, Frank Martin (Ed Skrein), a driver/courier who’s don’t-ask-don’t-tell policy makes him popular in the Riviera’s criminal underworld. Fast forward 15 years and Anna, along with three more of Yuri’s victims, has cooked up an elaborate scheme to get out of prostitution for good. The Transporter Refueled kicks off with an origin story for Anna (Loan Chabanol), the victim of human trafficker and primary villain Yuri. 2015 seems to be the year for revivals, with Terminator Genisys kicking off blockbuster season and Fantastic Four sitting comfortably in the middle: Luc Besson’s Transporter franchise is the latest to the get the reboot treatment.

Transporter refueled movie release date