Parents' Guide to The Transporter Refueled

Movie PG-13 2015 96 minutes
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Common Sense Media Review

Jeffrey M. Anderson By Jeffrey M. Anderson , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 15+

Pointless, lifeless, violent reboot objectifies women.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 15+?

Any Positive Content?

Parent and Kid Reviews

age 17+

Based on 3 parent reviews

age 14+

Based on 4 kid reviews

What's the Story?

In the French Riviera, Frank Martin (Ed Skrein) agrees to one of his "transporter" jobs, picking up a mysterious woman, Anna (Loan Chabanol), and two "packages." When the packages turn out to be women, Frank balks and threatens to quit. Unfortunately, his employers have kidnapped his father (Ray Stevenson), and they use that as leverage to force Frank to drive them away from a bank robbery. More heists follow, with Frank beating up many henchmen and causing many car crashes. Eventually it becomes clear that Anna and her friends are going after an evil crime lord who runs a prostitution ring. But can the good guys survive the final showdown on the bad guy's yacht?

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say ( 3 ):
Kids say ( 4 ):

On paper, it might have been an attractive idea for Luc Besson to resurrect the Transporter series, but without Jason Statham in the lead, and given a general carelessness, the movie is out of gas. Instead of Statham, THE TRANSPORTER REFUELED gives us Skrein -- recognizable mainly due to a few episodes of Game of Thrones -- as Frank Martin. He's handsome, he's fit, and he has some chin scruff, but he has none of Statham's personality, and he never comes to life on screen.

Of course, he's not helped much by the lazy screenplay or by Camille Delamarre's hopelessly lost direction. Frank never seems to be looking at the road while he's driving, and the overly choreographed fight scenes have thugs simply walking into his punches. Perhaps worse, in a movie about eradicating prostitution, is the fact that there are dozens of scantily clad women objectified and on gratuitous display. In this entire mess, only Stevenson, as Frank Sr., has any charm. This is one for the scrap heap.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about The Transporter Refueled's violence. Does it feel exciting or brutal? How did the filmmakers achieve that? What's the impact of media violence on kids?

  • How are women portrayed in the movie? Do they come across as real characters or as objects to be looked at? What's the difference? What message does that send?

  • How does the movie depict sex? Is it meaningful to the characters? Parents, talk to your kids about your own values on this topic.

Movie Details

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