Safe
Release: 27 April 2012
Starring: Jason Statham, Catherine Chan, Reggie Lee and Chris Sarandon
Director: Boaz Yakin
Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller
Length: 94min.
Rating: R
Tagline:
She has the code. He is the key.
Basic Premise:
Luke Wright is down and out. His life has literally reached a dead end, it’s just a matter of taking that final step… and then she ran past him. Mei is the most wanted girl in the city. Chinese mafia, Russian mafia, and the cops all want her. If one can’t have her, they’ll kill her so the others can’t get her. Luke Wright has just become her guardian angel and he plans to give the others hell.
Review:
I love Jason Statham. Not all of his movies are good, some of them aren’t even worth watching. Thankfully, this movie wasn’t one of those. I thoroughly enjoyed Safe. It ranks up there with Transporter and War… kicking ass and taking names. Statham has finally gotten back to a movie that does him justice. I actually want to see it again. If it weren’t for all the movies coming out this month, I would.
NOTE: There are subtitles since half the cast speaks Mandarin.
The plot was solid and the storytelling such that it made sense and pulled you in, though the implementation required a bit of suspension of disbelief… with duct tape. There were moments where you just shake your head because you know nothing like what you’re seeing could happen in real life without all hell breaking loose… well more hell than what was portrayed in the movie.
I liked the fact that the background music was an accent to give the scene a certain mood and not ever-present, as is the case with most movies. There were many points of no music and just the sounds of action. It made it more potent.
Statham played the type of role he always plays — badass who doesn’t speak much. Catherine Chan did a wonderful job. And it was weird seeing Reggie Lee outside of Grimm and actually took me a while to recognize him. Talk about one-eighty of character. I love his range.
Warning – R rating is EARNED. Lots of people getting shot, usually in the head. I’m surprised I didn’t get splattered. There may be a kid IN the movie, but you might not want your kids seeing it.