Review No.63: Safe

After appearances in films such as Crank, The Transporter and The Expendables it seems that Jason Statham is now Hollywood's go-to action figure picking up the mantle from guys such as Stallone and Willis. I have to say I was disappointed in his last venture The Mechanic which I found dull and uninspiring however with his new film Safe he has redeemed himself. Statham plays cop turned cage fighter Luke Wright who wins a fight he is asked to lose so is then chased by people who bet big money on the outcome of this encounter so in return Russian mobsters kill his wife and make him go on the run to be one of life's loners. After a year of living like this Luke is about to end it all when he sees Russian mobsters chasing a little Chinese girl named Mei onto a subway so he pursues them, kills them all and saves her. It turns out that not only the Russians but also the crooked cops and the Chinese triads are all after Mei as she can remember long numbers such as one to a safe containing many millions of dollars. Luke is now set on protecting the girl who essentially saved him from ending his life but this means rampaging his way through New York killing everyone who gets in his way while laying on the witty quips as he goes.

When I actually went to see Safe, at a free preview screening, myself and my friend thought that we had got the time wrong as the film had already started when we entered the cinema. Twenty or so minutes in the lights went up and a staff member told us that the film was actually meant to start at the time we thought so many other customers were ushered in and the film was screened from the beginning. I'm telling you this story as the part I watched twice was the build-up before the real action began we learnt of how Mei was transported from her native Shanghai and how Luke ended up the shell of a man he had become however I had to see two showings of the first twenty minutes before we got into full Statham territory. Once Luke had vowed to protect Mei we saw guns a blazing, Statham using a Chinese man to break his fall as he fell out of a hotel window and also a brilliant sequence in a casino safe. Writer/director Boaz Yankin plays to Statham's strengths not giving him a lot to say other than some quips my favourite being a response to one of the mobsters telling Luke that he has massive balls to which he replies 'yes, it's amazing I can still walk.' Much of the acting is left to young Catherine Chan and she does a good job bringing this frightened girl to life as she learns what business is really all about. My criticism of the film is that not all of the part I watched twice was really necessary as I don't see the point in a lot of character progression if most of those characters are going to be finished off by Statham before the end of the film. For the most part though this was a fun ride while maybe not as entertaining as the first Crank film I would say that it was better than The Transporter franchise in terms of Statham's overall opus. This is brainless action at its finest and if you're looking for a good action caper that won't tax the brain too much then this is it.

Verdict: A film which plays to its target audience, contains Statham in his element and most of all is fun I'll give this an entertainment-packed 7/10