They
look like they stepped out of a Robert Palmer video. Frank Martin’s latest
clients are highly synchronized and they need a driver. They will repeatedly
break his rules, but their desperation makes them quite persuasive. Of course,
Martin always keeps his cool in the latest re-configuration of Luc Besson’s
strangely resilient franchise. Deliveries will be made in Camille Delamarre’s The Transporter Refueled (trailer here), which opens today
nationwide.
Clearly,
Martin got his keenness for punctuality from his chop-busting father, who has
just retired from an ambiguous government career that came with a cover job as
a salesman for Evian (it’s “naïve” spelled backwards). He ought to be a little
more resourceful, but somehow Frank Senior allows himself to be taken hostage
by four women trafficked into prostitution by a Russian vice lord. Anna, Gina,
Maria, and Qiao know they cannot simply run away from Arkady Karasov. They will
have to hit his network where it counts—in the wallet. Thus, Martin reluctantly
serves as their wheelman for a series of clever heists, while his father jolly
well enjoys being a hostage.
When
it comes to films set in Monaco, Refueled
beats the stuffing out of the justly infamous Grace of Monaco. Delamarre understands what Transporter movies are supposed to be
and executes accordingly. There are at least two action sequences that are
ludicrously over the top, but what of it? It is not like the film slows down long
enough for us to analyze the aerodynamics of any given scene. Cinematographer Christophe
Collette also makes the Principality backdrops sparkle quite alluringly.
Ed
Skrein has a strange look. It’s like you can see the exact shape of his skull
because there is only a thin layer of skin stretched over it. He also has an
odd screen presence, coming across as intense, but somehow simultaneously
disdainfully disinterested in everything around him. Yet, that sort of works
for Frank Junior. He has all kinds of cred in the fight scenes, but Ray
Stevenson gets all the laughs as his cooler, funnier dad. His shameless scenery
chewing is a major reason why the film is such deliriously guilty pleasure.
Loan
Chabanol, who attracted notice with her short but memorable appearance in Fading Gigolo, can’t project the same élan
as Anna, but it is hard to compete with all the black Audis flying through the
air. It is also a shame former Miss World Yu Wenxia does not have more screen
time, because she seems to have a bit of a spark, but most of the time Anna’s
three amigos just strut about in the background, to raise our awareness of
human trafficking. What did you expect, really? Frankly, the film’s real
shortcoming is its interchangeably generic villain. We have seen plenty of cats
like Radivoje Bukvic’s Karasov done before and done better (Michael Nyqvist in John Wick springs readily to mind).
