Starring: Jason Statham, Catherin Chan, Chris Sarandon
Written & directed by Boaz Yakin
Rating: TBA
Jason Statham is Luke Wright, a former elite agent with a guilty conscience. He’s a man with nothing to live for until he saves a young girl from the very men who murdered his wife.
Taken from her mother and her homeland, Mei is living a life she never wanted. Her impressive mathematical skills are used to act as a human calculator for a group of Chinese criminals.
Safe is set in New York City, where corrupt police officers have gotten greedy. In order to allow the Chinese and the Russians to operate illegal underground gambling rings they ask for a cut of the profits.
The city is harmonious until the Chinese and the Russians go after the same thing: Mei. She holds the code that both groups want. Luke sees Mei’s liberation as a chance to redeem himself.
Statham may be the principal actor, but his role in the film is limited. The key plot elements and storyline centre around the Russians and the Chinese.
Unless you’re fluent in Russian and Mandarin, be prepared to read subtitles. I like that the producers chose to have the actors speak in their native tongues to add realism to the movie.
It appears that Statham is attempting to speak in an American Accent. It comes across as a mixture of English, Scottish and American. Lucky for him, he doesn’t have many lines. However, he does redeem himself when speaking Russian.
Unlike some movies where the sub-plot reveals key elements of the story, Safe compels you to watch the story unfold before you. There are no clues left for the audience to use to piece together the puzzle.
While it is something of a mystery, it’s not over-complicated with too many twists and turns. Each event that takes place is simply a natural progression of the storyline.
Safe isn’t what you would consider a bad movie. The acting and the script were fine, I just feel like I have seen this kind of movie before. How many times can we see Jason Statham in the same sort of role? Even action stars such as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone have branched out in to different genres at some point in their careers.
Safe reminds me of Rush Hour without the witty banter between Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan. There are some humorous one-liners thrown in, but they’re few and far between. If you enjoy action movies with extensive fight scenes and high body counts, though, then this is the movie for you.
While Safe follows the same formula of most action films, it is quite enjoyable. It’s unpredictable down to the final moment.
3 out of 5.
Originally published at the following website – http://www.youthcentral.vic.gov.au/News+%26+Features/Reviews/ViewPage.action?&repositoryName=&siteNodeId=547&CurrentFolderID=1930&ItemID=15931&BackToFolderID=1966
Visit youthcentral’s homepage at – http://www.youthcentral.vic.gov.au
Stacie Mayer 