'The Transporter Refueled': A new star joins the franchise
-
Molly Driscoll Staff writer
The action film 鈥淭he Transporter Refueled鈥� hits theaters today and it鈥檚 not only the newest film in the 鈥淭ransporter鈥� movie series, it also features a new star.聽
Actor Jason Statham, who appeared in the original 2002 film 鈥淭he Transporter鈥� as well as other sequels, did not return for this movie and 鈥淕ame of Thrones鈥� actor Ed Skrein stepped in to star as Frank Martin, a driver who takes care of transporting items.
Skrein said in an that he didn鈥檛 feel too much pressure about taking over the role. 鈥淚 really never think about what people think of me or how they would compare me to other people,鈥� he said.聽"Let's let the people decide.鈥�
So far, the film has received negative reviews from critics, with , 鈥淭he film rarely pauses for anything resembling character building or repartee, but when it does, the results are screamingly hysterical鈥� and 鈥渃rass and nonsensical.鈥�
Recasting lead actors in action films are nothing new. The series that has probably done it most famously is the James Bond movie franchise, which debuted in 1962 with 鈥淒r. No,鈥� a film that featured actor Sean Connery as the superspy. Several other actors have taken on the role since, with some of the most recent being Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and the current franchise star, Daniel Craig, who is appearing in this November鈥檚 Bond movie 鈥淪PECTRE.鈥�
Some of the "Bond" movies with new actors have done better than others. Craig鈥檚 tenure is currently one of the most successful, with his last outing, 2012鈥檚 鈥淪kyfall,鈥� becoming the highest-grossing Bond movie of all time without calculating inflation.
Another successful action franchise recently brought on a new actor, though he played a different character. After Matt Damon starred in the 鈥淏ourne鈥� film franchise, actor Jeremy Renner came aboard for the movie 鈥淭he Bourne Legacy,鈥� in which he played a new protagonist named Aaron Cross. The new movie didn鈥檛 do as well with critics as Damon鈥檚 previous outing, 鈥淭he Bourne Ultimatum,鈥� however, and grossed less domestically than Damon鈥檚 films.
