Director: Camille Delamarre
Cast: Ed Skrein,  Ray Stevenson,  Gabriella Wright,  Loan Chabanol,  Lenn Kudrjawizki,  Tatiana Pajkovic
Running time: 96 mins
Rating: 15
Release Date: September 4th, 2015

The original TRANSPORTER made Jason Statham a star and launched a rather successful action trilogy that was rammed with martial arts and jaw-dropping car stunts, now it seems that producer Luc Besson would like to reignite the same magic. A lot is riding on whether THE TRANSPORTER: REFUELLED is a successful vehicle for rekindling the franchise, but it is a tough ask to get the film up to the speed of other popular franchises in the big league.

THE TRANSPORTER helped Statham become one of the biggest action stars in the world, catapulting him into the same league as Jean Claude Van Damme, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone – a la THE EXPENDABLES series. However, in recent years THE TRANSPORTER franchise has been eclipsed with the likes of the BOURNE series and fuel-injected car bravado of FAST AND FURIOUS’ latest outings, so REFUELLED is certainly thrown into a mix of tough competition in a genre bursting with choices.

Camille Delamarre directs this one instead of Olivier Megaton the last time around and Ed Skrein‘s Frank Martin is designed as a prequel to Statham’s French Riviera face-puncher, though his rules have remained the same: never change the deal, never exchange numbers, never look in the package. In REFUELLED, he can’t help but look at the package that walks into his car donning a tight dress and blond wig, finding himself caught up romantically and lethally with Anna (Loan Chabanol), the leader of a group of female assassins out to wreak revenge on a gang of Russian people traffickers. 

There are no surprises with the plot of course – Frank Martin getting roped into a scheme by four prostitutes (Chabanol, Gabriella Wright, Tatiana Pajkovic, and Wenxia Yu) who want to set up their vicious pimp (Radivoje Bukvic) as a way to escape from their sexual slavery. Mr. Transporter goes from unwilling participant to would-be hero. That’s the gist of the plot, with the wrinkle being that our four young women encourage Frank to help them by kidnapping his ex-spy father (Ray Stevenson).

Frank goes about his business knocking seven bells out of the baddies and getting the girl. Whilst dealing with this, he also has daddy relationship issues to contend with, showing elements of a prequel and storyline not explored in the other TRANSPORTER films. However, the added character development does not mean there is a lack of action in the film, after all it is THE TRANSPORTER. There are a variety of hard-hitting combat scenes, which we have come to expect, showcasing Skrein’s efforts at combat choreography, which he pulls off rather well and has stepped into the jaw-breaking character during these moments rather effortlessly.

Out on the road, fans of the franchise will enjoy the high-speed chases through the Riviera and the numerous car pile-ups choreographed superbly by Michel Julienne without the use of CGI or special effects in the scenes – and there certainly ends up being rather a lot of crumpled up car metal! 

Overall, the film delivers what it promises. Skrein may not yet have the star pulling power of Statham, but it is only inevitable that the audience may make comparisons, as the predecessor is so synonymous with the role. For the adrenaline junkie, there are memorable moments of action and THE TRANSPORTER: REFUELLED is an entertaining piece of car throttle, but it may not be one which remains memorable.

Verdict

(You can read our interview with THE TRANSPORTER: REFUELLED star Ed Skrein here).

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