‘The Transporter Refueled,” a re-ignition of the franchise that turned Jason Statham into a global star, feels less like an action movie and more like a checklist for an action movie, a generic run-through of every trick and trope of the past three decades jammed into 96 minutes.
Exotic South of France locale? Check. Evil Eastern European villain? Check. Hot European car? Check. Four leggy femme fatales? Quadruple check.
All of that would matter less if the star — Ed Skrein (“Game of Thrones,” the upcoming “Deadpool”), who’s taking over Statham’s head-slamming Frank Martin character — had more personality or his predecessor’s limber yet aggressive physical presence. Or, if the script — co-written by French action-movie icon Luc Besson, who also produced — had even a whisper of smarts, surprise or a sense of humor. Or, if director Camille Delamarre (“Brick Mansions”) hadn’t decided to turn his film into one long commercial for the Audi S8.
As fans of the previous three films know, a transporter is someone who gets dangerous cargo from point A to point B, no questions asked, for a high fee. This time around, Martin is hired to take Anna (Loan Chabanol) on a mission of revenge against her former employer, the snarling Russian pimp/mobster Karasov (Radivoje Bukvic). To make sure Martin plays along, she and her girl gang have kidnapped, and perhaps even poisoned, his dad (Ray Stevenson).
