Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		2.0

The Transporter Refueled Blu-ray Movie Review

Out of gas.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 21, 2015

Almost three years ago now in my Anger Management: Season One Blu-ray review, I mentioned a hilarious clip from the old Conan O’Brien show (like, pre-Tonight Show Conan) which offered one brief burst of comedy in a long flight which was otherwise encumbered with the distinctly unfunny feature film version of Anger Management. Three years seems like enough time to have passed to recycle Conan’s joke, which becomes newly relevant in a way with regard to The Transporter Refueled. As part of his “News from the Future” bit, Conan, replete with a greenish flashlight bulb aimed directly up at his face from under his chin, ghost story around a fireside style, stated without much affect, “In the future, robots will replace humans in dull, repetitive tasks like washing dishes and marrying J. Lo.” One might be tempted to add one newer duty to that somewhat abbreviated list of soon to come robotic activity, namely playing The Transporter, the character Jason Statham has essayed in three previous films (in addition that first linked entry, there’s also the creatively named Transporter 2 and Transporter 3). The character of the Transporter, otherwise known as Frank Martin (played now by Ed Skrein), is not exactly a showcase for Sir Laurence Olivier level cinematic performance proclivities, and instead is largely a cipher prone to uttering deadpan one liners shortly before dispatching various bad guys with a variety of combat techniques, including some pretty vicious hand to hand martial arts abilities. These are obviously all efforts a well programmed robot could fulfil with alacrity, and indeed much of The Transporter Refueled plays as if it were written by a machine consortium, with a rote plot line that borrows heavily from producer Luc Besson’s Taken Franchise.

The first Taken famously offered Liam Neeson’s Bryan, a guy who when presented with the kidnapping of his daughter, informed her abductors, “I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills, skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.” Taken 2, a probably needless sequel, simply replaced (or perhaps augmented) the kidnapping victims to include Bryan’s ex-wife. Taken 3, a definitely needless sequel, at least eschewed the kidnapping angle to offer a kind of quasi-Fugitive scenario where bad guys of all stripes as well as some law enforcement types were after Bryan. The Transporter Refueled takes “one from Column A, one from Column B,” as it were, by choosing about the only other family relationship “available” for a kidnapping, in this case Frank’s father, Frank Martin, Sr. (Ray Stevenson), while thrusting Junior into an escapade involving organized crime and prostitution in the French Riviera where the Transporter’s own “special skills” are needed to thread a needle between several sets of impending vengeance seekers. Sound familiar?

The film begins with a brief prelude set in 1995 which offers a bunch of thugs showing up to a tony French Riviera hotel and simply slaughtering a bunch of other thugs who are evidently pimps securing the prostitution trade for the region. Arkady (Radivoje Bukvic), a bad guy who has his own “logo” courtesy of a pendant his “girls” wear, installs a new coterie of working women, including Anna (Loan Chabanol), who is obviously less than pleased to be in this predicament. (One can almost hear Besson acolyte director Camille Delamarre urging Chabanol to “emote” as she stares tearfully into the camera for way too long as this sequence plays out.)

Fast forward a decade and a half or so, and Anna is now evidently plotting a rather complicated revenge scenario against Karasov, one which of course entails the need for the Transporter’s services. After Anna makes her deal with Frank (including a recitation of the supposedly iconic “three rules” which inform this franchise), she makes a quick phone call to some of her cohorts, at which point Frank’s father, who might have a few “special skills” of his own, finds himself on the wrong end of a stun gun and thereafter a hostage of Anna’s crew, supposedly to ensure Frank, Jr.’s unquestioning assistance. There are some passing attempts to inject a little sly humor during this set up, with ostensible bantering between father and son despite their predicament, but what may actually bring a smile to some viewers’ lips is the weird get ups Anna and her prostitute sisters wear during the first part of their convoluted gambit, where they end up looking like the girls in an old Robert Palmer music video.

The Transporter Refueled blasts through a subsequent series of vignettes that sees both Franks ultimately working with those working girls to get some revenge on Karasov, and while the film is suitably hyperbolic in its action elements, it comes to a more or less lurching halt any time there’s actual attention paid to any putative narrative aspects. Delamarre manages to invest a couple of spectacular set pieces with some requisite cinematic energy, a technique he obviously learned at Besson’s febrile knee, but it’s all largely for naught in this, well, robotic sequel.

The Transporter Refueled Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Transporter Refueled is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.40:1. Shot digitally with the Arri Alexa, the film looks suitable sharp and well defined most of the time, despite the ever present color grading in the seemingly unavoidable blue and yellow tones (fast forwarding through this film may provide some palette entertainment value for those otherwise uninterested in the proceedings—just look at the checkerboard proclivities between yellow and blue on display as things unfold). Close-ups offer generally commendable fine detail in aspects like junior's stubble or the girls' flyway blonde hair on their matching wigs. A couple of scenes look pretty soft and less defined, including one climactic sequence in a nightclub rife with elements like lasers and strobe lighting (see screenshot 15). Contrast is slightly variable as well, adding a bit of murk to less well lit moments.

The Transporter Refueled Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Transporter Refueled's expectedly bombastic sound design receives a boisterous bit of support in this DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless offering. Surround activity is consistently utilized throughout the film, again most expectedly and assuredly in the many action elements, where a glut of discretely placed sound effects often almost browbeats the listener into submission. There's a wealth of LFE on display providing suitably rumbly moments as well. Dialogue is cleanly presented, though occasionally gets just slightly buried in some of the more noisy moments. Fidelity is top notch and dynamic range is extremely wide.

The Transporter Refueled Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Frank Martin: The Reluctant Hero (1080p; 9:18) is standard issue EPK fare with interviews, behind the scenes footage and snippets from the film.


• The Coeur Brise: Les Femmes of Refueled (1080p; 5:32) offers brief profiles of some of the female stars.


• Rocketing From 0-60 (1080p; 5:40) offers more interviews with an emphasis on the car stunts in the film.


• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 2:29)

The Transporter Refueled Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Transporter Refueled probably offers enough hassle free action elements to satisfy undemanding adrenaline junkies, but with a deficit in character and plot, there's little other than those action elements to really generate much interest here. Competently made and occasionally even stylish in some of the set pieces, the film is nonetheless surprisingly tame and derivative feeling. Technical merits are very strong for those considering a purchase.