The Luc Besson-created and Jason Statham-starring "Transporter" franchise were never truly great movies, but modest box-office hits and guilty pleasures at best. Now the fourth film, "The Transporter: Refueled" featuring a new cast and Besson still producing arrives in theaters, and this preposterously dumb, badly acted action-thriller is peppered with a few decent action scenes but is otherwise a typical Labor Day throwaway. Frank Martin (played by newcomer Ed Skrein taking over for Statham), a former special-ops mercenary, is now living a less perilous life - or so he thinks - transporting classified packages for questionable people. When Frank's father (Ray Stevenson) pays him a visit in the south of France, their father-son bonding weekend takes a turn for the worse when Frank is engaged by a cunning femme-fatale, Anna (Loan Chabanol), and her three seductive sidekicks to orchestrate the bank heist of the century. Directed by Camille Delamarre and co-written by Besson with Adam Cooper and Bill Collage, "The Transporter: Refueled" is a lackluster, dull attempt to revive the "Transporter" franchise, and this bland effort is easily the worst in the series, which is saying something and might have you longing to see Statham, who has since gone on to better things since the last film in 2008, back in the saddle as professional hit man and driver Martin. It's no big surprise that such a forgettable movie like "Refueled" would close out the summer, but at least it tries; handsome British actor Skrein, sure to become a bigger star after playing the villain in the upcoming "Deadpool," is handsome but vacuous, and the three models playing the blonde-wigged sidekicks have to be among the worst actresses seen in sometime (why give them any lines at all - they're all just awful). Familiar actor Ray Stevenson ("Thor") tries to add some comic relief as Martin's dad, but he isn't given much to do and the cast in general is less memorable than the real star of the show, those nice Audi S8's that do some of the more impressive stunts in the movie, which should keep you from falling asleep from the preposterous and predictable storyline involving some shady crooks from Martin's past. There are many better ways to spend your Labor Day holiday, and they don't involve the slickly packaged, forgettable action movie "The Transporter: Refueled," which should hopefully put this film series to rest for good.
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