Film review: The Transporter Refueled – Euro-trash action series gets an inane overhaul
Stylish fights and outrageous action sequences not enough to rescue this attempt
Fourth time out, the Luc Besson-produced action franchise gets an overhaul. Out goes Jason Statham, and in comes younger model Ed Skrein. The Game of Thrones star takes over the role of Frank Martin, the highly skilled, ask-no-questions driver who dresses smarter than he looks.
Set in sunny Monaco, the plot is pure Euro-trash, as Frank is sucked into an elaborate scheme to bring down a local Russian pimp (Radivoje Bukvic). The perpetrators are four of his former charges – a quartet of impossibly glamorous, long-legged ladies led by Loan Chabanol’s Anna. With the girls holding captive his father, Frank Snr (Ray Stevenson), the driver has little choice but to play along, as these vengeful women carry out a series of neon-lit heists to hit their master where it hurts.
Little is sacred, from the sensitive subject of human trafficking (these females were once child sex slaves) to classic literary texts (they carry a copy of The Three Musketeers for inspiration, doubtless leaving Alexandre Dumas spinning in his grave).
