• Plot
• Action
• Acting
• Direction

Safe

When you hear that Jason Statham is in a movie, you learn to expect certain things. Awesomeness and ass-kicking are the two words that come to mind. He’s become famous for great one-liners and beating the crap out of people. Which is why, even though I hadn’t really heard of the movie Safe, I wanted to see him in action again. Statham gained fame for movies like The Transporter, which happens to be one of my favorite action movies. It’s pure ass-kicking at it’s greatest with a good story, snappy dialogue, and lots of people with broken bones. I rented Safe expecting more of the same, and hopefully I won’t be at all disappointed. I mean, how can you screw up an action movie with Jason Statham?

Summary

A former cop and boxer, Luke Wright (Jason Statham) has been roaming the streets homeless and trying to avoid any human contact. The mob has threatened to kill anyone he gets close to, and after they killed his wife Wright has no choice but to live in despair. That is until he sees a little girl lost and afraid, running from the very mobsters who destroyed him. This little girl is a genius with a photographic memory, perfect for remembering records for criminals who don’t want any written evidence against them. But now little Mei (Catherine Chan) has memorized the wrong number, and it is up to Wright to protect her.

The Good:

Jason Statham Kicks Ass

Jason Statham has never disappointed in the action department. His signature style of beating up bad guys is just awesome to watch, a brutal assault on the senses. I find myself flinching a lot, because I’m sure those punches have to hurt. But along with his ability to make bitches bleed, he’s also got a way with words. When someone states that “you’ve got some balls Luke”, his reply of “I’m amazed I can even walk” is both funny and completely believable. I mean, the man can take out a room full of mob guys – he obviously has huge balls of steel. He’s fun to watch in any movie, and Safe is no exception.

The Bad:

Creepy Relationship Between Statham and 11-Year-Old

It’s the foundation of the movie, that Jason Statham will risk his life for a random Asian girl he sees on the street. The fact that she is an eleven year old girl makes this premise a little weird. And lines from Statham claiming that she is “life” makes it even creepier. The first time that they lay eyes on each other, Luke Wright is about to commit suicide. He’s given up on life, but after getting a glimpse of little Mei walking down the street he decides not to go through with it. We never actually understand why, besides the line that “she is life”. Wright doesn’t have a daughter that was killed, or any other obvious reason for this strange attraction to saving a small child. So why go through all the trouble? Dude jumps on a train and kills a bunch of mob guys for a completely random person – one that he can’t sleep with for at least seven years without being thrown into jail. It just seems a bit silly to me, especially when you think about the lady from The Transporter. Apparently Jason Statham just has a thing for Asians.

Luke Wright is a trash man/boxer/cop/super spy?

Throughout the movie, it seems that Luke Wright has a lot of different occupations. No one can decide exactly what he does. In the first part of the movie he is a boxer who has pissed off the mob by winning a match he should have lost. The mob kills his wife and then threatens to follow him for the rest of his life, destroying anyone he gets close to. Considering he only lost them a few million dollars, it seems a bit excessive to have someone follow the dude all the time (and think how much money that’s going to cost). This is especially strange since the Mob believe he’s a trash man who became a boxer. When Wright is homeless and roaming the streets he is picked up by some cops who used to be his colleagues on the force. The cops are all dirty, taking money from the different Mob factions to keep silent, and they beat him up because he was a good cop who wanted to turn them in.  And then, after he is on the run with the little Chinese girl, the mayor tells the chief of police that he’s not actually a cop but a super spy brought in to clean up the city. Why is a cop who refused to turn dirty (like the rest of the force) suddenly taking money from the Mob as a boxer? How did a cop become a cage fighter? Why is some spy content on the police force? While I understand that Jason Statham can do anything, it’s a little implausible that he could be all these different things in one movie. Why not just pick one?

Overall: 3 Stars out of 5

Sure it’s got a bit of a creepy pedophile relationship and a main character who can’t decide on a career, but it’s still a pretty cool looking action movie. The fact is that it’s fun to watch despite it’s problems with plot. Who doesn’t love watching Jason Statham kick the crap out of people. He drives fast cars, shoots bullets, and takes down the Mob all by himself. While it’s not going to become your favorite action movie, it will at least entertain you.

Buy It, Rent It, Skip It

Rent this movie, definitely. It’s not good enough to spend a lot of money on, but it will certainly make for an awesome evening of fun. That Jason Statham certainly knows how to pick them and kick them.

‘Safe’ Trailer