The Transporter Refueled

What happens to franchise films when they become old? Do they die and go away" No! They just retool, or in this case refuel and become a whole new franchise. We've seen the same thing with films like "Planet of the Apes", the James Bond films, and "Batman". So why can't "The Transporter" do the same with "The Transporter Refueled".

Frank Martin, played by newcomer Ed Skrein, a former special-ops mercenary is now living a less perilous life--or so he thinks--transporting classified packages for questionable people. When Frank's father, Frank Sr. (Ray Stevenson) pays him a visit in the south of France, their father-son bonding weekend takes a turn for the worst when Frank is engaged by a cunning femme-fatale, Anna (Loan Chabanol), and her three seductive sidekicks, Gina (Gabriella Wright), Maria (Tatiana Rajkovic) and Qiao (Wenxia Yu) to orchestrate the bank heist of the century. Frank must use his covert expertise and knowledge of fast cars, fast driving and fast women to outrun a sinister Russian kingpin, Arkady Karasov (Radivoje Bukvic), and worse than that, he is thrust into a dangerous game of chess with a team of gorgeous women out for revenge.

Others to round out the cast are Noemie Lenior as Maissa, Karasov's girlfriend, Yuri Kolokolnikov as Yuri, henchman of Karasov, Lenn Kudrjawizki as Leo Imasova, Samir Guesmi as Inspector Bectaoui and Anatole Taubman as Stanislas Turgin.

This was effectively directed by Camille Delamarre ("Le hors-champ" (Documentary) '04, "Brick Mansions" '14). This guy certainly hasn't a ton of experience, however when I saw "Bick Masions", I remember thinking that it was far better than I ever dreamed of, and so much of that was because of the directing. He really knows how to put that edge in a film that one wouldn't necessarily see in other films of the same genre. I want to see more work from this guy. It was written with intensity and slickness by Adam Cooper, Bill Collage and Luc Besson based on characters created by Besson and Robert Mark Kamen. The first two writers listed are a team and have written all their films together, and of course, this film wouldn't be the film it was without Besson involved. He's also the brains behind "Lucy" and the "Taken" films. This film was slickly shot and edited together where they complimented the writing involved so much that these elements truly kept one glued to their seat. With the exception of a few small slow areas in script, this story simply soared. Every time I go to these films, I think they won't be any good, and after I typically change my mind. I should know Besson by now. One thing I noticed is why did these guys felt they had to have the same character, but with a different actor? Couldn't they just write about another transporter with a different name who is just as lethal and reserved like Frank? In any rate, they still did pull it off.

If you're a fan of Luc Besson and his films and you expressly enjoyed the Transporter franchise, you'll love this. Skrein is an effective replacement for Jason Statham, and the slickness and coolness of Frank is still there, just a bit younger for the next generation of young, male single guys to sink their teeth into.

Out of 4 Stars: 3                              Rated: PG-13                               96mins.