The Sunday Mail
WHEN news broke that Jason Statham would not be reprising his role as Frank Martin in the latest “Transporter”, the Internet went ballistic.
I actually contemplated launching an online campaign with (hashtag #BringbackJason) for like many other misguided souls, I was of the opinion that the franchise lived and breathed with the 48-year-old English actor.
Several months down the line, reality has sunk in.
After watching the latest instalment, “Transporter-Refuelled”, little has changed. The franchise still sucks, lacks in the writing department and Statham’s influence on it appears overrated.
In fact, the only winner out of every “Transporter” film was Audi, as more often than not the film comes off as one elaborate attempt at product placement.
But I digress.
“Transporter-Refuelled” sees Ed Skrein take over the mantle of Frank Martin as the former Special Ops mercenary-turned-driver-for-hire.
While holidaying with his father (Ray Stevenson), Frank takes one last job when a sexy and cunning femme fatale Anna (Loan Chabonal) and her three friends hire him.
Anna and her three friends are former prostitutes, abducted as kids and forced into the trade by the Russian mob.
Now, they want to rob their former pimps and use the money to start over.
Skrein does a stand-out job replacing Statham as Frank Martin. Trained in Kali, Muay Thai and Krav Maga — three distinct forms of martial arts — and with a stint in the popular series “Game of Thrones”, Skrein pulls off the role.
It also helps that the role does not really require a lot from its stars, except to look broody, speak with a deep and hoarse voice, drive a car really fast, and plough through a dozen henchmen.
What sets this latest edition apart from its predecessors is that without an A-lister like Statham to hog the limelight, more is required more from the co-stars.
Chabonal, Gabriella Wright, Tatiana Pajkovic and Wenxia Yu steal the show as Anna and her Three Musketeers Gina, Maria and Qiao.
They play the role of sexy but dangerous, leaving men drooling and women envious.
Their plan to rob their kidnappers and frame the kingpin Arkady Karasov (Radivoje Bukvic) has parallels with some of the great heist movies of yore.
But Bukvic and Skrien are both victims of terrible — or perhaps lazy — writing, and they are not given enough material to really sink their teeth into.
Chabonal, her three playmates and Stevenson, as Frank’s father, have the material, talent and screen time to shine.
The four women ooze sex appeal, chemistry with each other and their co-stars and steal the spotlight in every scene they are in. Stevenson offers some of the lighter moments of the film as he mixes both charm and humour to keep the film ticking in between the gratuitous fight and chase scenes.
Working on a budget of about US$22 million, the film has grossed over US$66 million worldwide, which is not really bad considering the previous instalments struggled to break-even.
